


Peanut Butter Court

by Toonfreak



Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-07
Updated: 2018-06-25
Packaged: 2019-04-19 20:11:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 36
Words: 39,933
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14244828
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Toonfreak/pseuds/Toonfreak
Summary: Fact 1: Under the correct circumstances, humans can create synthetic Diamonds using peanut butter!Fact 2: The Gems found this out THOUSANDS of years before the humans EVER did...Welcome to Peanut Butter court...





	1. The MXE Files

Earth Report File 001MXE:

(classified)

The planet known by its primitive natives as: "Earth" is proving to be a very interesting subject. There are alien substances here that could hold potential for possible undiscovered Gem types! We have already located several compounds and elements previously not included on any other planet!

\----------------

Earth Report File 002MXE:

(classified)

At Pink Diamond's request, we have begun injecting and mining for new Gem varieties! I'm so excited about what we will discover!

\----------------

Earth Report File 003MXE:

(classified)

We have sent samples of our findings up to Pink Diamond's ship. These important elements will be handed over to our on-board Peridots for further analysis.

\----------------

Earth Report File 004MXE:

(classified)

One of my coworkers believes she has discovered a new way of creating a luxurious Diamond using nothing but human nourishment! There is an organic shelled plant that grows beneath the Earth's crust. An excessive amount of this plant is being collected for further testing.

\----------------

Earth Report File 005MXE:

(classified)

We have collected as much of this plant as we can find. It turns out, only the shelled part of the plant that grows underground has enough components and energy to make a Diamond. With Pink Diamond's radiant blessing, we are hoping to grind these massive amounts of plant pieces into a proper injector fluid. Our Peridot team is incredibly excited about the experiment's results!

\----------------

Earth Report File 006MXE

(classified)

Horrible news from the front.

While the Diamond experiment is going quite well, I fear a new civil war has broken out between one of her majesty's Rose Quartz', and us loyal Gems. I will stay at the testing site as long as I can to keep an eye on (what could evolve) into our next grand leader!

\----------------

Earth Report Mandatory Request File For Peridot ED2X7

From: Yellow Diamond

(classified)

To Peridot ED2X7,

It has come to our attention that you have failed to report on the new Diamond's arrival. A royal ship will be coming to pick up both you AND our new sister. Please note: due to your incompetence on reporting such a significant event, you will be permanently terminated for your idiocracy and carelessness.

\----------------

Internal Report on Diamond PB07MXE

(classified)

After observing our new radiant leader, we have come to the conclusion that this experiment should be kept confidential. The Diamond in question is the perfect size and height- (aprox the same as Blue Diamond).

However, due to this leader having minor side effects from her organic origins, the Council has decided to keep this experiment under wraps. Bismuths are working hard on creating a new separate space station for the newest Diamond. It has been decided that this court will be in charge of future experimentations to create new and unique Gems with helpful attributes. This will be the last digital report on the incident. All future reports should be filed with a physical catalogue to prevent hackers and cyber-attacks.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A big thank you goes out to writers Vonsmore, The_Lampman, and Blue_Pearl for encouraging me to write this silly thing! Hope you guys like it!
> 
> A especially grand thank you goes out to Vonsmore for helping me create the characters Petrified Wood, Amber, and Ice!


	2. The Purple Pearl

As the Purple Pearl finally emerged from her Gemstone, she could already tell that something was amiss. Typically, Pearls were created in sets...but not THIS Pearl! She was the only one that had appeared from the soil. The Gem had a most beautiful delicate purple outfit with a sash tied around her middle. Her hair was down, but the ends of the mop were curled outward into a lovely profile!

A Peridot had been waiting for her arrival. The green Gem inspected the oddly colored Pearl from every direction. She noted that the Pearl's gemstone was located on the outside of her left arm. A perfect Gem! "Excellent! I assume you have received the documents requested by Yellow Diamond?"

The Pearl checked her internal data. It was...odd. She seemed to be carrying a basic knowledge of all things related to Gemkind:

Diamonds were the ultimate and should always be obeyed.

Peridots were in charge of finalizing Gem production.

Rubies were foot soldiers.

Pearls should always serve and obey.

At first glance, all of her internal memories seemed to be in order...

...however...

The Pearl opened her hollo-screen, and stared at the thing...most confused. In the corner there was a small, locked, digital folder. It looked encrypted. Under her Diamond status, there was a black bar over the name with a "Classified" written in white font. Her message receiver seemed to be malfunctioning as well.

Incredibly concerned, the Pearl seemed puzzled...perhaps there was a glitch? "Erm- I think something is wrong with my hollo screen?"

Annoyed, the Peridot glanced at the screen. "Nothing is wrong with it."

"But...but...which Diamond do I serve under?"

"Isn't that obvious?!"

"Uhhh...you said something about Yellow Diamond?"

"NO! NO! NO! YOU CLOD! Can't you read?! Your Diamond is obviously..."classified"."

The Pearl huffed! "Well! That doesn't tell me much of ANYTHING...does it?!"

"Watch your tongue PEARL!"

The Pearl clamped her mouth shut quickly.

"Hmmmm...it seems some of the instructions were lost during incubation. What an inconvenient bother..." The Peridot huffed. "It looks like I will have to take you to Yellow Diamond myself. Come along Pearl 7181165."

The Pearl reluctantly obeyed, before realizing something odd about her given name- her files showed that she had no cuts...no facets...not even letters! Just...numbers! Lots and lots of numbers! The purple Gem felt...unsettled. There were WAAAY too many red flags with her internal system for her to be comfortable.

\----------------

As the purple and green Gems walked along the hallway towards Yellow Diamond's chambers, their footsteps echoed off the walls.

There were very few other Gems anywhere in the vicinity. It was almost as if the Pearl and Peridot were the only beings in existence on Homeworld! Either this hall was built to make one feel insignificant, or most Gems were home in their cubbies.

They finally, FINALLY got to the massive yellow doorway. To the right side of the door was a secretary desk with a Yellow Pearl sitting behind it. Despite the obvious fact that there were two new Gems approaching to talk to their glorious leader, the Yellow Pearl did not look up her from her holo-screen.

"A-HIM!" The Peridot coughed in annoyance.

"Appointment?..." The Yellow Pearl didn't even bother glancing in the duo's direction.

"Erm...NO. NO. We have a...situation. I need to see Yellow Diamond IMMEDIATELY!"

"Hmmmm...nooo...noooooo...you two can go away now. Busy..." this statement would've been much more believable if the hollo screen wasn't transparent. The Yellow Pearl was obviously playing a Homeworld equivalent of solitaire.

...

"HEY! HEY! CLOD!" The Peridot snapped her fingers in annoyance! "DO YOU KNOW WHO THIS IS?!" The green Gem pointed at the Purple Pearl in the most annoying way.

The Yellow Pearl glanced at her sister and lifted one of her eyebrows in sarcasm. "Erm...another "less important" Pearl?!"

"Nooooo...this is a PURPLE PEARL-"

"-yes. She is, indeed, purple in color-"

"LET ME FINISH YOU FRACKING DECORATION! THIS is Purple Pearl 7181165!"

The Yellow Pearl's eyes suddenly grew in absolute fear! "oh...OH!"

"YEAH! "OH!"" The Peridot crossed her arms in triumph! She had won the argument!

"I'm...I'm so sorry...you poor, poor, thing." The Yellow Pearl patted her sister's shoulder in condolences.

This back and fourth did not comfort the Purple Pearl AT ALL. In fact, this small argument had made the Pearl even more nervous than before!

"I'll alert my Diamond immediately!" The Yellow Pearl retreated into a small door behind the desk. She seemed...incredibly embarrassed and spooked!

"RUUUUMBLE..." the massive door finally opened slowly.

The Purple Pearl gulped before entering the chamber alongside the Peridot.

"FINALLY!" The Peridot walked inside first, rolling her eyes and putting her hands up in a Diamond salute.

Confused, the Purple Pearl did the same.

As the duo entered the room, a glare pierced through the Pearl's form. The Diamond was HUGE- at least 100 feet tall! She sat on her massive throne and squinted at the Pearl with the most evil and annoyed expression.

"My glorious, radiant, beautiful, Diamond! I present to you, this Purple Pearl!" The Peridot beckoned to the servant with pride!

"I see the Pearl. WHY is she HERE? In fact, why are YOU here Peridot? This is not what I instructed from you..."

"Erm...erg-Well...it seems your secret instructions were...somehow erased from the Pearl's memory data upon her...emerging..."

"WHAT?" The Diamond stared at the green Gem in a fit of rage.

"Erg...well...uh...as I have explained to you before...Pearls of this color are EXTREMELY challenging to produce..."

"UGH..." Yellow Diamond put her hand to her face in annoyance. "It's SO difficult to find good help these days! Peridot, I'll deal with your...punishment at a later date"

"PUNISHMENT?! But-"

"-YOU ARE EXCUSED."

The Peridot drooped her head in shame before leaving her Diamond's chambers.

"HA! Serves her right! What an idiot." The Yellow Pearl (whom was now standing next to her Diamond's throne), gave a smug quip at the Peridot's bad luck!

"PEARL!"

"Weep! Y-yes, my Diamond?"

"Go back to your desk."

"-but...but...what about-" Yellow Pearl stared at her purple sister in confusion.

"-NOW Pearl!"

The Yellow servant walked out of the room briskly. Purple Pearl was now the only one still inside of Yellow’s chamber. She was nervous, shivering, and all alone. The servant attempted to keep her composure as Yellow Diamond stared her down. 

The leader sighed in frustration, and did the ONLY thing the Purple Gem wasn't expecting- apologized. "I'm sorry. You must excuse my Pearl and that Peridot. Neither are fully aware of the severity and importance of your...existence..."

"P-pardon, My Diamond?" The Pearl couldn't be MORE confused...her internal programming was informing her that this type of empathy was VERY rare between any Pearl and a Diamond.

Yellow Diamond made a disgruntled noise, before angrily informing the new servant: "Technically, I am not your Diamond. You are a gift for my sister."

"...Blue?"

Yellow shook her head.

"...Erm...White?"

"My Stars! Your files really didn't cross over completely...did they?"

The Pearl shook her head, terribly embarrassed. She blushed from her shortcomings.

"Well, I guess the first thing you should know is who you're being gifted to..."

"P-Pink?"

"Yellow glared at the Pearl for the first time in an absolute rage.

Purple Pearl clamped her mouth shut quickly! Her Diamond was right to be cross with her! The comment WAS in incredibly bad taste. The Pearl really didn't know of any other Diamonds though...there was Yellow, Blue, White, and Pink! Who else was there?!

"I have more than four sisters you CLOD! Your Diamond is...especially important to Homeworld's future!"

The Pearl tilted her head in confusion.

The Diamond sighed. "Her name is Peanut Butter."

"P-Peanut Butter?!" The Purple Pearl was even MORE confused now! What kind of a color was "Peanut Butter"?!"

"YES. Peanut Butter." Yellow Diamond looked completely serious. "I am not surprised you haven't heard of her. She is not represented on our flag's insignia for...safety reasons. Her court IS important, but must stay confidential."

"Oh!" The Pearl nodded in understanding. "That must be why a lot of my files are encrypted!"

"Indeed." Yellow nodded. "The files that were lost during your creation were supposed to relay all of Peanut Butter's information-and instructions to your incredibly important assignment. The entire thing was meant to be confidential."

"Oh...I didn't know..."

"MMPH." The leader seemed annoyed at the servant. She HATED repetition! Yellow was already WELL AWARE that the Pearl "didn't know" things. THAT'S why the Diamond was even bothering telling her all this stuff in the FIRST place! The monarch decided that this conversation was now wasting her time. She got right to the point: "Go to the east shipping dock. There will be a small purple eye ship that will pick you up, and take you to your destination. That will be all." The Diamond clapped twice and excused the servant, before immediately going back to work on her own holo-screen.

More confused than ever, the Pearl curtsied, and took her leave.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Huh....so this is what my writing is like when my muse is struggling...very....dialogue heavy....  
> ^_^;;;;


	3. Peanut Butter Diamond

The purple vehicle was easy enough to find...it was the only one of its color at the ship docks.

The Pearl took note that all the other Gems in the area were staring and whispering about her as she walked by.

"Is that...a PURPLE Pearl?!"

"I've never seen a PURPLE one before!"

"She's so fancy!"

"Where's her owner?"

"I wonder who she belongs to?"

"Is she entering a ship...by HERSELF?!"

The Pearl blushed horribly as she entered her ride...all alone. Her programming was informing her that she should always be accompanied by a master...and yet...

The ship was automated. It simply activated, closed its hatch, turned around, and sped off into the distance...all on its own!

The Pearl figured that the ship was being remotely controlled from some faraway place. She sat down in one of the ship's seats and waited patiently. Despite the fact that she wasn't allowed to be alone, she certainly FELT very alone.

Perhaps her programming was not...ENTIRELY accurate? Simply guidelines? Nothing she had experienced thus far made any sense...

The Pearl wondered and pondered as she watched space go by through one of the ship's windows.

\----------------

The trip took about two Earth weeks. During that time the Pearl attempted to re-read all her guidelines and internal memory, trying to make sense of everything. She also took several pictures of planets, comets, and other pretty things she saw from the ship's window to occupy her time.

Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, the ship began to approach an absolutely MASSIVE, PURPLE, space station!

\----------------

As the ship docked itself, an eerie silence greeted the Pearl. The hatch opened.

The Purple Gem stuck her head out of the vehicle in fear. She looked left...she looked right...

...no one.

"H-hello?"

Silence.

The purple Pearl exited the ship, and simply began to walk in a random direction. The halls were incredibly clean and spotless.

The halls were also incredibly...empty.

"Hello?"

Still nothing.

\----------------

...and so, the Pearl walked, and walked, and walked some more...

Finally, the Gem saw a massive room up ahead! Thank the stars! It was probably the main chamber of the space station! Certainly there would be another Gem HERE?!

The Pearl gasped!

The walls were HUNDREDS of feet tall- covered in HUNDREDS of halls, and (creepily enough) HUNDREDS of locked metallic doors. The place looked like a mixture between an incredibly fancy skyscraper hotel, and a prison. It was also obvious why Yellow Diamond was so insistent on gifting her sister a PURPLE Pearl. Whoever this "Peanut Butter Diamond" was, it was obvious she had a favorite color. "Huh...well this is..."

"?tnereffid"

The Purple Pearl jumped up in surprise, as a new voice snuck up behind her! She turned around in fright, and proceeded to gawk at the Gem that stood before her!

It was another Pearl! At least, she THOUGHT it was another Pearl...

The creature looked rather...strange. The Gem was pale with a gorgeous purple gown...just like a regular Pearl. Her skin and Gemstone however...

Her skin seemed to be...PEELING. It was very similar to the flakes of skin that a human would shed after a bad sunburn. Her gemstone was not much better. It looked like various layers were peeling off of it as well. Each time the strange Gem moved, flakes of skin would float off of her like dandruff. Slightly surprised (and disgusted) the Purple Pearl attempted to smile at this new Gem.

The odd Pearl smiled back! "!uoy gnitcepxe eb lliw dnomaiD ruo...em wollof esaelP !lraeP xuaF si eman yM !olleH" The odd Pearl began to casually walk backwards...like a film in reverse.

The Purple Pearl followed- terrified, intrigued, and confused all at the same time.

\----------------

The peeling Pearl finally approached a massive door- similar to Yellow Diamond's in size, but purple in color. The odd Pearl pressed several buttons, before the door shifted open. The chamber was (unexpectedly) very dark and dim.

There was an immediate massive squeak of excitement from the inside of the chamber!

"OH! FAUX! Has the new Pearl arrived?! Bring her here! Bring her here! I wish to get a good look at her!"

".dnomoaiD ym seY" The peeling Pearl curtsied and beckoned towards her new friend! "!5611817 lraeP elpurP gnitneserP"

"Hmmm let me see here..." the Diamond finally got off her throne, and stomped forward into the light.

The Purple Pearl quickly gave a Diamond salute, and gasped slightly. She attempted not to stare. The massive Diamond was the same height as Yellow, but was (surprisingly) NOT purple as the Pearl had expected. She was a sort of orange-brown, and smelled heavily of...something...the Pearl didn't recognize the scent.

Perhaps even more shocking than her color, however, was her appearance. Her skin looked like it was slowly oozing. She had a strange drooping hairstyle that was covering one of her vision spheres. As the massive leader stepped forward, she was leaving a strange trail of orange footprints behind her. The entire Diamond was also very shiny...as if she had been covered in oil.

As the Purple Pearl stared at her new owner, she attempted to locate the placement of the leader's gemstone. It was on her forehead!...no...wait...her torso!...no...wait...her leg? No...

It seemed that the gemstone was shifting as the Diamond walked. It kept sinking and re-surfaceing in different places all over her form! The Diamond bent down to get a better look at her new servant. The Purple Pearl sweated in nervousness. "So...your REAL identification number is 7181165...AH-HA! Grape! Your name is Grape! What a fun puzzle! My sister always sends me Pearls with coded names you see!" The Diamond nodded in pride! "What an adorable Pearl you are too! A magnificent gift!"

To the small servant's horror, her new master decided to ruffle her hair in affection using one of her massive fingers! Not only did Grape nearly fall over- but her hair was now COMPLETELY covered in peanut butter!

Grape looked incredibly shocked as she stood- her nice new hairstyle now in horrendous disarray.

"HA! HA! HA! HEE! Look at the poor thing Faux! She looks completely confused!"

The peeling Pearl nodded and chuckled slightly.

The Diamond continued: "Forgive me my dear! You just look absolutely hilarious! I should probably explain what's going on...would you like that?"

Grape nodded quickly! She certainly WOULD like to know what was going on! It was as if she had been thrown into a world of insanity and chaos!

"WELL! First things first- I'm Peanut Butter Diamond, or "PB Diamond" for short!" The leader beckoned toward herself. "This little one here is my personal Pearl- Faux! Say hello Faux!"

"!olleH" Faux waved with a smile on her face.

"As you have probably noticed, Faux here can only walk and talk backwards. Her gemstone also has layers that peel easily...this is because she is a Faux Pearl!"

"A...erm...a what?" Grape asked, silently and slightly confused.

"A Faux Pearl my dear! A "fake Pearl"! She is made out of synthetic materials! It makes the production process go much faster, but also makes the Pearl more delicate. Hence, all the shedding..."

Faux blushed horribly in embarrassment at this statement. It was obvious that the "shedding problem" was a sensitive topic for her.

The Diamond continued: "As for ME, my gemstone is made completely out of organic material- specifically, a plant called the "Peanut". Some planets that carry organic life use the substance to stay alive!" The Diamond nodded. "Hence, the sticky residue- so sorry about that by the way my poor, poor Grape...you are more than welcome to clean yourself off after this meeting..." the leader nodded and blushed herself, also slightly embarrassed. "Now, it is YOUR turn Grape! Feel free to ask questions!"

"Gladly my Diamond...I-I'm SO confused..."

"Take your time."

"Well...Erm...How is it that I've never heard of this court or your radiance before? I checked my internal memory files many times, and couldn't find a single thing about this branch of government..."

The Diamond frowned. "There are...SEVERAL answers to that question Grape. The most common one is this: you haven't heard of us because the work we do in this court is incredibly controversial. We are in charge of creating new types of Gems you see...but Gems made out of unique and untested minerals, elements, organics, metals, and synthetic materials. Very hush-hush, you know?"

"Oh! I see!" Grape nodded in understanding! That made complete sense- especially considering her new Diamond's unique appearance. "So...why did Yellow Diamond send ME here than? You already seem to have a perfectly friendly Pearl..."

Faux smiled with glee, and stood proud at this comment!

Peanut Butter Diamond sighed. "Even though Faux is an excellent Pearl, she is incredibly delicate. We can always use a non-synthetic Pearl to help with the chores and cleaning here...it puts way too much stress on Faux's gemstone."

Faux nodded sadly in agreement.

Ah-ha! So that was it! Grape nodded. She was simply going to act as a personal cleaner! Nothing terribly horrendous about THAT...this newly discovered Diamond even seemed unusually nice and understanding- definitely less grumpy than Yellow Diamond...

The leader clapped her hands! "On that note, you probably want a tour of the place, and a brief overview of your daily routine! I will call someone to escort you! Welcome to the team Grape!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ...and there we are! The first three chapters! I would LOVE to know what you guys think so far!  
>  ^w^


	4. The Tour

An incredibly short Gem appeared in Peanut Butter's Court several minutes later. She was about the same size as a Ruby, but had completely different coloring. Instead of being red, the small Gem was covered in brown and green spots! Her skin could only be described accurately as "Camouflage". The multi-colored Gem grunted slightly, as she approached her Diamond.

The Diamond nodded with approval. "Thank you for coming on such short notice. Grape, let me introduce you! This is Petrified Wood! Petrified Wood, our new Pearl, Grape! Petrified Wood’s Gemstone here is actually made from organic material just like mine! Certain types of flora turn to rock...if given enough time..."

"Mmph..." the new Gem mumbled to herself. The purple Pearl noted that Petrified Wood's gemstone was not symmetrical. In was in the middle of her chest, and was cut incredibly roughly. It was green, with massive brown spots all over...but, indeed, resembled both a rock AND a piece of organic plant life!

"Come on then...let's get this over with..." the short Gem beckoned for Grape to follow her. The Purple Pearl obeyed, but turned nervously back toward her Diamond.

"Have FUUUUN!" The leader waved in oblivious ignorance! Grape gulped, before leaving her new master's chamber once more.

————————

Once the duo was outside, Petrified Wood looked the new Pearl over. She immediately noted Grape's "new and improved" hairstyle. "Heh...yep. Ya definitely met our glorious leader. She does that to EVERY new Gem that enters our court! It's a rite of passage really...a good sign. That means she now sees ya as a grand friend! There's a washing station over there-" The Gem pointed to a sanitation area. "-if you want to get yourself looking decent before the tour..."

Grape nodded. "Thank you. Yes...I will do just that! This won't take long..."

————————

As it turns out, peanut butter was EXTREAMLY difficult to get out of one's hair. There was a special sink at the sanitation station, JUST to clean Gem’s hairstyles- signifying that this particular habit was a common practice for her clarity.

Grape ended up attempting to pull the goop out using her fingernails. She desperately wished she had been born as an era one...she could have just shapeshifted her hand into a comb.

————————

After a major struggle, Grape re-emerged from the sanitation station-looking...not GREAT, but...decent.

Petrified Wood gave off an annoyed huff. "Ya said you wouldn't take long-"

"Oh! I'm so sorry! It was a bit more difficult than I-"

"-YA DID. Ya took a fracking long time! I don't have all day to wait around ya know! I have other stuff that needs attention..."

"OH! Erm...sorry...again..."

Petrified Wood sighed. "Come on than...I'll show ya about..."

————————

The first location had a massive amount of metallic doors on the very bottom floor of the complex. The tour guide began to explain: "This is floor one. These Gems are allowed outside...to walk about. They are less sensitive to room temperatures and outside forces."

Each room had a window with a description underneath. Try as she might, the Pearl couldn't help but stare. The entire set up was very much like a zoo...which (admittedly) made Grape extremely uncomfortable. She attempted to distract her own gaze by reading the descriptive signs under the windows...

"Salt...Silver...Plastic...Rock Candy...Steel...Fools Gold-"

"-HA! This one's mine!" The tour guide pointed at her sign in pride! Sure enough, the window plaque said: "Petrified Wood", and included a small description underneath.

Grape looked at the sign with interest "Huh...well this is certainly..."

"-different?" Petrified Wood asked.

Grape nodded.

"Heh...ya ain't seen nothin' yet!"

"There's more?!"

"Yup. Higher floors have less rooms- but much more...unstable Gems. Come on! I'll show ya!"

————————

Sure enough, after a quick ride on the elevator- Grape found out that the tour guide was quite correct! The Pearl continued to read the signs to distract herself: "Amber...Helium...Ice...Crystal...Hydrogen...Sea Glass...Carbon Dioxide..."

"-Ya. A LOT of these Gems are either super breakable, or require rooms with temperature control to survive...especially Ice and Carbon Dioxide." Petrified Wood nodded in agreement.

————————

The hours continued in (pretty much) the same way. Each floor brought more and more unstable and toxic Gems along with it- Mercury...Sulfuric Acid...Lead...Uranium...

Finally, the duo reached the highest floor. Immediately, Petrified Wood became incredibly sullen and quiet.

There was only one room here. It had the most massive amount of thick glass, locks, and metallic security doors the Pearl had ever seen! The incredibly small window showed no Gem- only a singular gemstone, black as night, floating in a peanut butter-colored bubble.

Grape couldn't read the plaque from the elevator. She attempted to step out to get a better look...but Petrified Wood grabbed her arm and shook her head in the most serious of fashions. "Ya don't wanna go close to that one Grape. That one's no good..."

"Wha-what is it?"

"That one there...is the reason why we need YOU Grape. This place used to have a LOT more Purple Pearls you see...laughing, wandering the corridors, bringing joy and company to all the Gems here!...and then...THAT one...that one ate them...destroyed them. Our Diamond was devastated! It took all of her power just to poof and bubble the damn thing..."

Grape's eyes became large with immense fear! "Wha-what the Stars IS it?!"

Petrified Wood paused. "That one is- that one is: Dark Matter. It creates...black holes."

Grape looked absolutely terrified at the floating gemstone.

Petrified Wood attempted to smile. "Don't ya worry Grape! It can't hurt ya, or any other Gem no more!" The short Gem nodded in confidence, before pressing the elevator button, and descending to the ground floor once again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WOW! HOLY COW YOU GUYS!
> 
> I did NOT expect to receive this much feedback and positive comments on just the first few chapters of "Peanut Butter Court"! Thank you forevers everyone! I am pleasantly surprised that an OC-centric fic received SO much praise SO quickly!
> 
> OwO;;;
> 
> I will try my best to make this story as funny /fun/ interesting as possible!
> 
> Thanks again!


	5. Amber

"Welp, that's basically the entire place! What do ya think of your new home?" Petrified Wood asked.

"It's very...diverse!" The Pearl attempted to find a nice word for the odd stuff she had just seen, before forcing a smile.

Petrified Wood smiled back. "You'll get used to it over time! Do ya have any questions?"

"Erm...several."

"Shoot."

"Where are my chambers?"

"Oh." The little Gem suddenly looked extremely upset. "Follow me..."

————————

They soon came across a nicely decorated doorway. It was purple (of course), and had quite a MASSIVE amount of trinkets spread around its base...pink toys, handwritten notes, names, a jar of peanut butter, some folded paper, various professional pieces of paintings and artwork...

The door also had a small sign that stated: "The Pearl's Chambers!"

Petrified Wood shed a tear. "I do apologize Grape...this is the first time I've been back here since the...INCIDENT. I...I have heard that Pearls are treated very poorly by the other courts of Homeworld...but here, they are treated like equals. All Gems on EVERY floor were quite upset when we lost them all. The only reason why the rest of us weren't destroyed is because we don't leave our rooms terribly often. I still feel like a damn coward for being in my quarters when that THING emerged...I shoulda done more." The little Gem looked at the floor in sadness. "I don't even think this door or room has been disturbed since that horrible day..."

Grape nodded in condolence, and opened the door for her new friend. It was a large room, filled with about fifty cot-like beds.

Sure enough, almost every sleeping spot was decorated slightly differently by the Pearl that had occupied it before. Many of the beds included different colored sheets, books, pictures and crafts that had obviously been given to them by the odd residents as a token of friendship.

Grape felt incredibly uneasy here. It was like she was disturbing a sacred place. The Pearl spotted some empty beds at the very end of the room, and took one of these in respect of her fallen sisters. Taking one of the pre-decorated beds just...didn't feel right. Petrified Wood immediately nodded in gratitude. It was clear that she was deeply hoping Grape would take an empty spot. Petrified Wood tried to mask her tears. It was obvious that the court hadn't fully recovered from the incident yet.

Grape wasn't quite sure how to mark the bed as her own. She had no items of worth. The Pearl finally settled on pulling out a single string of her purple hair, and placing it on the pillow. Grape nodded to her friend before both exited the room at the same time.

————————

"Soooo...I guess my next question is, where should I start?" Grape attempted to change the subject.

"Start?"

"Yeah! You guys need help cleaning stuff! Right? What should I clean first?"

"Ah...erm..." Petrified Wood looked around the court center, sweating slightly. The entire place was spotless! There was absolutely nothing to clean. No surprise there...it's not like the place had a lot of foot traffic anymore anyway... "Did...did Peanut Butter Diamond explain your, erm...PRIMARY function?"

"Cleaning?"

"No! No! No!"

Grape tilted her head in curiosity.

"Your SECONDARY function is cleaning! Your PRIMARY function is to LISTEN!"

"Listen? Whatever do you mean?"

"Hrm...I'll show you, Follow me..."

————————

The duo rode the elevator back up to the second floor, before approaching the Amber's room.

Petrified Wood knocked on the window. "Hey Amber! There's someone I want ya to meet!"

"Go away." a soft voice responded from the room.

"Come on now Amber! Grape is new! She doesn't know how things work yet!"

This statement seemed to interest the Gem on the inside. Grape peered into the window with caution, as a Gem slowly began to shuffle out of her provided bed.

...

After struggling to get her own bedsheets off of her head, the Amber looked at her window... "OH! A PEARL!"

To Grape's surprise, the Gem was SO excited to see a Pearl, that she ran to the window with glee and a massive clattering din! "A-A Purple Pearl! Hello Purple Pearl! I'm Amber!" The Gem smiled politely at Grape.

The Pearl smiled back. "Oh! Erm...hello! My name is Grape! You've...uh...you've got a bit of something..." Grape beckoned toward her own back.

"Hmm? Oh for the LOVE OF-!" Amber struggled for several seconds. The entire bed- frame, mattress, and sheets included- were sticking to the Gem's backside. The poor thing attempted to peel her own bedding off of herself. With a mighty "CLANG!" the sleeping spot fell back to the floor- slightly covered in excess tree sap, but otherwise fine.

Blushing slightly in embarrassment, the Amber attempted to smile like nothing had happened at all. Her transparent Gemstone was on her heart, and included several frozen air bubbles, and some sort of winged organic creature- a butterfly to be exact. The Gem herself was slightly taller than Grape. Completely yellow and transparent, the Amber included an extremely odd pair of antenna which seemed to move of their own accord. Her skin was obviously incredibly sticky too. There were small noticeable specks of dirt, debris, and other random objects resting inside various parts of her form. She wore her hair up in a self-made ponytail, which was drooping ever-so-slightly.

"OH! A new Pearl! Grape...was it?! It's been so long...please excuse my enthusiasm!"

"It's quite alright!" Grape nodded. "I know you guys lost a lot of Pearls recently. Petrified Wood informed me...I'm so sorry about your friends. I'm...not quite sure what I'm supposed to do here...but hopefully I can help?"

"You already have!" Amber nodded. "The fact that the other branches of Homeworld are sending Purple Pearls again is a good sign! This means that our court will be filled with happiness once more!"

Grape blushed at the compliment. "Soooo...what did the other Pearls used to do? I'm still not quite sure what my job title is. Petrified Wood? Maybe you can-" As the Purple Pearl turned around, she discovered the small, camouflaged Gem had completely disappeared! "What the?! Where did she go?!"

Amber laughed! "That's Petrified Wood for you...always disappearing! She can turn invisible you know?"

"She-she CAN?!"

"YUP!" The Amber nodded. "She is probably going to be the next Gem assigned to one of the three major Homeworld courts! Her paperwork has already been approved for mass production. I'VE heard Yellow Diamond is going to use her Gem-type to spy and gather intel on new potential drilling planets! A lucky Gem she is!" The Amber smiled.

"Ah! I see! Sooo...what about YOU then Amber?"

"OH! I can do this!" The Gem waved her hand quickly, resulting in a massive spray of tree sap landing on the floor. The sap almost instantly hardened, and made a smooth protective crust. Amber smiled before explaining. "As soon as this darn goo separates from me, it hardens instantly! The Peridots are attempting to find a way to make my form less sticky in general...they believe my skills would be helpful for minor, temporary, quick repairs on space ships! If a crack forms on the ship's deck, I can cover it up with that stuff and prevent dangerous vacuums in space!"

"That's AMAZING!"

"I guess so. I do wish I was less sticky though..." The Amber blushed in embarrassment. "I have to stay in this sanitary room, not for YOUR safety, but for my own. If I attempted to walk into the halls, my form would collect SO MUCH random dust and debris, that I would be completely covered in the stuff!" The Gem nodded, sadly.

"I'm so sorry..."

"Yeah...it's kind of sad...OH! But it will be MUCH better now that YOU'RE here Grape! I'll have someone to talk to on a regular basis again!" Amber nodded in excitement! "We can sing, and tell stories, and gossip, and joke about! Oh! I'm SO relieved we have another Pearl!"

Grape chuckled slightly! She had NEVER heard of someone getting so excited over a simple Pearl like her...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! Just a quick head’s up! I would HIGHLY recommend reading the comments section for this story! Author, The_Lampman has been doing an INCREDIBLE side story for this fic- by creating AWESOME files and scientific journals about the various Gems in Peanut Butter Court (and their past!).  
> Check it out! The stories are absolutely wonderful, and fun to read!


	6. Exit

After her pleasant chat with Amber, Grape decended the elevator back to the first floor looking for Petrified Wood.

Sure enough, the little Gem was back in her room with the metallic door ajar. She seemed to be collecting the few objects she had, and stuffing them inside of a small duffel bag.

"Petrified Wood! What on Homeworld are you doing!?" Grape seemed more than a bit upset.

"OH! Heh...I'm packing!"

"Packing?"

"I told ya I had stuff to do after our tour!" The little Gem smiled. "Amber probably told ya already...my gemstone has finally been perfected! They are going to send me to Yellow Diamond's court for mass production!"

Grape frowned.

"Don't worry! I'm finally going to be useful for something!"

"But...but...you're useful HERE! You gave me the tour, and helped me out! I mean, we JUST met! Don't go..."

"It's not my decision Grape...I feel Peanut Butter Diamond wanted me to give you the tour as a last hurrah. It is the goal for all Gems here to eventually become useful to Homeworld!" Petrified Wood attempted a smile.

"...but...but...I actually have MET Yellow Diamond. She didn't seem anywhere NEAR as friendly or understanding as Peanut Butter..."

"Rumor has it, none of them are." The small Gem nodded. "...still, I am excited to see the rest of the cosmos outside of this tiny room. I'll miss all of ya, of course though..." Petrified Wood seemed slightly disheartened by this...knowing she probably wouldn't have the authority to see any of her friends again. Peanut Butter Court was not exactly a place where Gems normally visited from the outside...

"OH! HERE!" The tiny gem handed Grape a shiny flat something.

The Purple Pearl turned the item over in interest... "OH! It's your sign!" Grape glanced below the Gem's window, and noted that the metallic plate had been removed from the wall.

"YEAH! Think of it as a momento, so that ya never forget me!"

"Are...are you quite sure Petrified Wood? You seemed so fond of it..."

"BAH! It won't do me any good on the outside...it's just extra weight! Besides, they would have decided to discard the sign anyway. I've actually heard that there are two types of new Gems already needing this room- Cat Eye and Marble."

"Oh...I see."

"Yeah...we even had a goodbye party yesterday and everything...I'm sure gonna miss this place..." The small Gem had finally finished packing, and glanced around with a bit of nostalgia. She took in a deep breath- slightly nervous. "Welp! Time to see the big world! SEE YA GUYS!"

"GOODBYE PETRIFIED WOOD!" Many of the Gems shouted from all directions. Some of the friends from the first floor exited briefly before giving the Gem a quick hug. Tears were exchanged. As the Gem began to walk toward the ship bay, she quickly shouted: "YOU'LL DO A FINE JOB GRAPE! I BELIEVE IN YA!"

...and with that, the little Gem Pearl had met only several hours prior was gone!

Grape was incredibly upset. She placed the little Gem's sign in the pocket space of her gemstone, before walking down the hall, back to the Pearl's chambers. She needed some time to think things through and be alone for a bit. She could feel the curious stares of the various housed Gems as she walked by slowly.

————————

When the Purple Pearl entered the massive room, she was surprised to see that the place was no longer deserted. It seemed Faux had a spot in here too. The poor thing looked absolutely exhausted! She snoozed on her own bed- much more decorated than Grape's. It was clear that the odd Pearl had been here for a long time and had collected lots of interesting things to decorate her space.

Grape sighed, and decided to return her own bed. She found it quickly, and placed Petrified Wood's present under her pillow. It was her first item of worth- a gift from a new friend. While Gems did not need sleep, Grape began to doze off- hoping the activity would calm her a bit. She was sure tomorrow would be a very busy day indeed...


	7. Plastic

The next day came quickly. By the time Grape woke up from her nap, Faux had already left the room.

The Purple Pearl blinked with drowsiness, slightly confused. Where was she? Huh? Oh! Right! She was no longer in the soil! She had a job to do...

Grape contemplated to herself as her (now gone) friend's words repeated through her skull..."listen"...her job was to "listen". The Pearl supposed that this meant she was created to converse with other Gems here in order to keep up spirits? That's certainly what her little chat with Amber seemed to imply.

Grape got up from her sleeping spot, and headed toward the exit. She would attempt talking to the first Gem she saw, and just go from room to room afterward. Fortunately, she didn't have to walk very far to find someone to chat with.

There were several open tables in the common area. Sitting at one of them was (perhaps) the strangest thing she could have imagined! Was...was it...a Gem?! She wasn't sure...

-and that was saying something...considering the odd things she had witnessed the day before!

The strange creature was huge and bulky-about the size of a Jasper or Amethyst. It was also oddly shaped. Its head was a sideways triangle, its torso was a cube, the elbows, fingers, and knees seemed to be connected with circular ball-joints. The stranger was an incredibly hot pink, and completely transparent! Grape could see the entire rest of the room, (slightly distorted), through the Gem's head and torso. There was no mouth, there were no eyes. This mysterious being DID have a simplistic screen where it's eyes SHOULD have been though.

If Grape hadn't known any better, she would have sworn the thing was a robot!

The creature's two incredibly long antenna-like ears flipped up with curiosity, as the Pearl edged closer. The thing was looking up at her!...maybe?

"werrrrr...bop?" The pink monster asked inquisitively, as it tilted its head to the side.

"Erm...Hi there! My name is Grape! Erg...uh...I'm a Pearl?"

"VEREP! Spoit!" The creature nodded before the screen on her face displayed odd text, accompanied by a monotone robotic voice:

"HI LOW GR8! I AM PLAS-IC!"

The Pearl squinted in confusion "Plas-ic?! OH! You must mean PLASTIC! Am I right?"

"BEEEP! BEEEEEEP!" Plastic nodded and clapped in excitement! To the Pearl's shock, a strange laser emitted from where Plastic's mouth should have been. The Gem lifted her head slowly up and down facing the Pearl, before Grape realized what was happening...

Plastic was scanning her! Just like a robonoid!

"WEEP!" Grape suddenly felt very nervous! She wasn't prepared get scanned by an absolute stranger like that...ESPECIALLY with a scanner so similar to the tool used to destroy Gems!

"Veeeer?" The creature asked.

"P-please...tell me if you are going to do that again! I don't like getting scanned unexpectedly..."

Plastic used her letter screen and robotic voice again: "R U OK? SORRY. PLAS-IC HAS NO VISION SPHERES...NEED SCANS TO C." This statement was followed by a low groaning sound of sadness from the Gem.

"OH! I'm sorry! I had no idea..."

"IT IS ALRIGHT. U DIDN'T NO..."

There was an awkward pause of silence after this. Grape decided to break the ice. "Soooo...why are you in the commons area? Needed some fresh air I guess, eh?"

Plastic turned inquisitively into the distance, before answering: "PRAK TICE"

"Practicing? What?!"

"Vrrrr...VROP!" The Gem seemed to be encouraging Grape to sit at the table with her!

Slightly nervous, the Purple Pearl agreed. Plastic lifted one of her hands just above the table.

In a massive amount of excitement, the hand contorted into an entirely different shape! Grape watched in fascination as the limb began producing holograms and lasers. The hologram seemed to represent a smaller version of the recently scanned Purple Pearl. "Veeet...Veeet...Veeet..." A small metallic machine appeared from the hand, and began to shape melted plastic perfectly in layers! The plastic soon engulfed the tiny hologram to a tee!

"BEEP! BLOIT!" Plastic waited patiently for the sculpture to cool down, before handing the gift to Grape. It was a perfect likeness of her in every way...other than being hot pink and only a few inches tall, of course!

"STARS! That's AMAZING!" The Purple Pearl stared at the sculpture in admiration and disbelief!

"GLAD U LIK IT! VEEP!" The odd Gem nodded in pride. She always enjoyed getting praise for her artwork!

"So...if you are practicing, Homeword wants to use this skill for something I presume?" Grape inquired.

"Verp!" Plastic nodded before attempting to explain: "THEY WANT SMOL MODEL SPACESHIPS, FOR MEETINGS AND PLANS. SMOL MODEL B4 BIG SHIP."

"AH! I see! So what is wrong with these?" Grape beckoned to the tiny Pearl sculpture.

"PINK."

"What?"

"PINK."

"Are you telling me, they won't let you work for the rest of Homeworld...just because your sculptures are PINK?!"

"Vooooo..." Plastic dipped her head sadly.

"That has to be...the DUMBEST thing I've EVER heard!" Grape stood up in a massive rage!

"Verrr?" Plastic tilted her head curiously at the outburst.

"I mean...YOUR pink! OF COURSE the sculptures are going to be PINK too!"

"Booop...THEY WANT ALL COLORS. MORE...AC U RATE." Plastic nodded, before clenching her fists in determination! "NO WORRY GR8! PLAS-IC WILL PRAK TICE UNTIL PER FECT!"

Grape calmed down a bit before sitting once more. "WELL! I don't care WHAT color your sculptures are! This is lovely!" The Pearl admired the small piece of art with a smile!

"VEEEE..." Plastic scratched the back of her head in embarrassment and pride. "GLAD U LIK GR8..."

"Of course I do!" The Pearl nodded. "May I keep it?"

Plastic nodded in joy!

"OH! While I'm here...do you have any suggestions on the Gems that need someone to talk to the most? I should probably attempt to help Gems according to severity..."

Plastic contemplated this question before responding: "LVL 1 GEMS CAN TLK 2 EACH OTHER. LVL 2 GEMS MOR SAD. CAN'T LEAVE RMS..."

"I should probably start on level 2 than...thank you Plastic!"

"Vrr! Vrr!" the Gem nodded in agreement as Grape stood up, thanked her new friend for the sculpture, and walked toward the elevator.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> When I was designing Plastic, I wanted her to have ear flaps similar to the ones seen on the robots in the film “Chappie”. Her body design was inspired by “Transformers” and the Pokemon Porygon. Her head is also a similar shape to that of Raymond’s character from O.K K.O. Plastic is (basically) a 3D printer. 
> 
> Whoot for useless trivia!!!
> 
> XD
> 
> The next chapter will be “ICE”- thanks for all the support you guys! Feedback has been AMAZING on this fic!!


	8. Ice

As Grape continued her journey to the elevator, she wondered if Homeworld was this strict and picky when approving ANY Gems from Peanut Butter's Court. She was still holding the small, pink, sculpture Plastic had made for her. Grape shook her head in frustration. Denying a Gem happiness because of something as trivial as the color of a model spaceship...

"Hrmph..." The thought made Grape angry. She wondered why it bothered her so much. These were DIAMONDS she was thinking about! If they wanted STUPID model spaceships, for their STUPID meetings, in STUPID colors other than pink...well...than...their word was LAW! Right? Right!

...

Grape mumbled to herself: "I bet Peanut Butter Diamond likes Plastic's sculptures...grumble..."

The Pearl tried to keep her mind off of things, and approached a random room on the second floor. The sign said: "Ice". Grape knocked on the window with curiosity. The inside of the room looked like a massive cooler. There were large patches of ice crystals littering the place. The window was difficult to see through with all the frost. Grape cupped her hands over her eyes in hopes of being able to see the inside of the room better.

A sudden movement close to window, made the Pearl jump! It was...a chair?

A blue Gem quickly climbed on top of the chair so that she could look through the window. Ice smiled with glee!

She...she was so...small! Shorter than a Sapphire, shorter than an Aquamarine (but only just). The small Gem had a light blue dress. Her "gemstone" was located on the top of her head- somewhat representing a little hat. Of course said "gemstone" was simply an ice cube in the SHAPE of a gemstone.

"OH! Hello there! You must be Ice!"

Ice nodded in response and smiled!

"Soooo...how are you doing today?"

The Gem simply smiled! Perhaps she was shy? To Grape's surprise, the tiny Gem breathed extra frost all over the window. Grape was shocked by this at first! She couldn't see ANYTHING in the room NOW...

The Pearl figured Ice didn't want to be disturbed and almost walked away.

...but than...

The adorable Gem ended up making a small checkerboard on the window using her finger. She put an "X" in the middle.

"Oh!" Grape understood imediately! She put an "O" in one of the other boxes using her own finger. The duo went back and forth until the board was filled. Ice marked three in a row! She won! The Gem wiped the window clean of the extra frost, and displayed the most adorable face of joy the Pearl had ever seen!

Tic-Tac-Toe...who would've thought that such a simplistic game could bring someone so much happiness! "I see you like Tic-Tak-Toe!" Grape nodded. "What else do you like?"

Ice looked inquisitive! She jumped off of the chair, grabbed something in her room, and returned to the window. Ice had a stuffed toy, and displayed it for Grape to see!

It was very cute, and included soft white fluff, giant adorable eyes, and a sly smile. Grape was unsure what kind of animal it was supossed to represent, but she smiled all the same.

Curious, the Pearl read the discriptive plaque outside of the window:

"Ice- a docile and calm Gem. Cannot leave the containment unit without melting. Shows no signs of being able to talk.

Purpose: To cool and fix overheated machinery on spaceships.

Current Status: Melts too easily when exposed to heated machinery. Does not display high enough intelligence to fix machines.

Conclusion: Experiment is useless. Until further funding is supplied, Ice is a low priority."

This sign made Grape incredibly upset! Ice might not have the knowledge to fix ship parts, but she was certainly intelligent and had feelings! The Pearl was actually quite glad that Ice could not read her own sign...it would probably make her very sad.

Grape put her hand on the window. Ice mimicked her in blissful ignorance! Grape immediately wondered how long the poor Gem had been locked inside that tiny space. The sign seemed to indicate that she wasn't going to get out anytime soon.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Two chapters today (for no reason!)  
> Whoo!!!  
> XD


	9. Uranium

Grape waved "goodbye" to ice with blissful ignorance, desperately attempting to put on airs so that the little Gem would not become sad.

The Pearl got onto the elevator and went up another floor yet again. The door opened and Grape began to walk in a slightly grim state. She desperately wished to talk to someone about her incredibly disturbing discoveries. She figured, if she kept trying, perhaps, she would eventually find a someone to help calm herself down.

Unfortunately, as she walked down the hall, a Gem knocked on the window!

"KNOCK! KNOCK! KNOCK!"

Grape jumped in shock! The noise had scared her! The Gem in question had red eyes, and a MASSIVELY tall lime-green mohawk. There seemed to be a slightly glowing, green rod-shaped gemstone in her neck. She was also wearing LOTS of black- making the hair, rod, and eyes contrast even more so.

Uranium.

"HEY! HEY! I see you FINALLY made it to our floor! Took you long enough!" The Gem looked annoyed.

Grape approached the window, slightly irked. "Excuse me?"

"You are excused." Uranium answered with snide.

"Look...you're only the third Gem I've seen today! There are many others I didn't even get a chance to talk to yet! I'm going as fast as I can-"

"-Well, go FASTER!"

Grape huffed in a rage! "Now see here! There's a WHOLE bunch of you guys, and only ONE of me! This is only my second day!"

"I saw you walk by with Petrified Wood yesterday! You didn't even say hello!"

"She was just showing me where everything was!"

"So that's all I am to you?! A THING?!"

"WHAT?! NO! WHAT IS YOUR PROBLEM?!"

"YOU! You visited all the other residents FIRST! The old BETTER Pearls used to visit ME first!"

"Well how was I supposed to know that?!"

"Didn't anyone tell you?" Uranium stuck her nose in the air. "I'm the most important Gem here! All those other LOSER Gems are below me for a reason you know, and-"

Grape simply began to walk away at this comment. She didn't have to take this verbal abuse.

"-HEY! HEY! GET BACK HERE! GET BACK HERE YOU FRACKING SHALE-HEADED CLOD! DON'T IGNORE ME! HEY!" As Uranium became increasingly upset, her rod glowed more and more severely! The Gem suddenly fell to the floor, curled into a ball, and began to breath rapidly in pain! Her eyes strained as she struggled to calm herself.

Grape turned in shock! She certainly wasn't expecting the rude Gem to fall over like that! The Pearl quickly ran back to Uranium's window to make sure she would be ok...

The rod continued to glow more intensely! It looked like the Gem was having trouble breathing!

In a massive panic, Grape found the Gem's plaque, and sped read through the thing:

"Uranium- an incredibly unstable Gem. Angers easily, and can spread radioactive materials harmful to organic life.

Purpose: To be utilized as a weapon- specifically for extermination purposes on organic planets.

Current Status: has too short of a temper. Came out of the crust with unexpected extra parts (lungs). This Gem experiences severe pain if aggravated- resulting in involuntary twitching and asphyxiation. Uranium can not retreat into her gemstone when these "pain attacks" occur.

Conclusion: Uranium is too unstable to serve her primary function. Experimental failure.”

"OH MY STARS! OH MY STARS!" Grape looked desperately at Uranium, struggling to breathe through her aggravated rod-shaped-gemstone!

"OH STARS!" Grape looked about in a panic, wondering what to do, before seeing something carved into the wall. Directly underneath the Gem's plaque, it simply said:

"Sing"

Grape shrugged quickly. Worth a shot...

The Pearl began to sing. It was a simplistic, soothing tune- no words...just a gentle melody. As Grape sang, she glanced through the window. Uranium's gemstone stopped glowing. The Gem's breathing slowed...finally Uranium uncurled, no longer in pain.

The exhausted Gem ended up falling asleep on the floor.

Grape sighed in relief. "Stars...that was scary! I'm glad she's ok...I should probably let her rest."

Feeling incredibly guilty, Grape returned to the elevator quickly. The LAST thing she wanted to do was cause anyone distress or pain. She decided some questions needed answering- she had to talk with Peanut Butter Diamond.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh my gosh you guys! I NEVER thought in a bajillion years that this story would take off like it has! I have the BEST, most understanding readers and reviewers for this fic, EVER!
> 
> ;w;
> 
> A big thanks goes out to all of you guys, the fans of this silly little project!- The_Lampman, Blue_Pearl, Master_of_the_Boot1, the_guy_who_asks, An Preson Peepul, nyanyanya22, gaytriangle, Wolfspirit2996, Sonic, and ALL of my readers and followers!
> 
> Without you guys and your kind responses, I definitely wouldn’t have gotten this far!
> 
> The next chapter has (actually) already been written! (All those comments motivate me to work SUPER fast!)
> 
> XD
> 
> ...and let me tell ya...the upcoming chapter is a doozy!
> 
> Thanks again you guys!!!


	10. Peridot ED2X7

Grape walked over to her Diamond's door briskly! She was incredibly miffed and unusually confident!

The Pearl didn't even hesitate. She brazenly walked up to the massive door, and knocked on the thing aggressively!

"BANG! BANG! BANG!"

"PEANUT BUTTER DIAMOND! WE NEED TO TALK!"

Several seconds later the door creaked open...just a crack. Faux appeared from the inside, and stared at Grape with curiosity. "?yako gnihtyreve sI ?eparG"

"I need to talk to Peanut Butter Diamond Faux! It's urgent!

The fake Pearl nodded in understanding, before letting Grape in.

————————

Peanut Butter was messing with her hollo-screen when the Purple Pearl waltzed in. The mighty leader looked up from her work. "OH! A guest! Hello Grape! How can I help you today?" The leader put away her work so that she could give the little Pearl her full attention.

"Oh...erm...well..." Grape's nerves were suddenly shot. She had forgotten how tall and intimidating Diamonds could be in person. "I...I don't want to be too forward..."

Peanut Butter seemed surprised, before nodding in understanding. "Grape...I would know that worried expression anywhere! Almost EVERY Purple Pearl that has worked here has come to me with the same exact concerns on their second day."

The little Pearl looked up in surprise.

Peanut Butter sighed a deep sigh. "You're concerned about the future of our residents...aren't you?"

"Erm...uh..." Grape nodded sheepishly.

The Diamond returned the gesture, and nodded as well. "Who have you talked to today?"

"Uh...Plastic, Ice, and...erm Uranium."

"Uranium! On your second day?! MY! You're a brave one!" the Diamond smiled. "Did you have to sing to her?"

Grape nodded.

"...did it work?"

Grape nodded again.

"-WELL! That's a relief! Probably came as a bit of a shock, eh? I'm glad she's ok!" The Diamond smiled.

"M-My Diamond...I noticed that many of the signs around the complex mentioned that the Gems we keep are failures...defective for the strangest things!" Grape held up her pink Pearl sculpture, as her Diamond leaned in to get a better look.

"OH! You received a gift from Plastic! It's gorgeous! I can tell she's been practicing...this is probably one of her most perfect replicas yet! See here-" Peanut Butter beckoned to a corner of her room filled with random trinkets. Among the strange items, sat a set of pink sculptures- one of Peanut Butter Diamond, and another of Faux. "-see? she made us one too! She enjoys sculpting Gems and animals more than spaceships."

"Yes...I can see that...however, she said the other branches of Homeworld wouldn't take her skills because of the color of her artwork? It seems rather unfair considering her talent..."

"It is unfair, Isn't it Grape? Perhaps I should tell you a story..."

"...a story?"

"Indeed...you see... a very long time ago on a planet known as Earth..."

————————

The cliffside began to rumble with anticipation! A lone, single, Peridot was waiting...waiting in excitement! It-it was finally happening! A brand new Diamond- created ENTIRELY from organic material! If this experiment worked, there would be an alternative way to recycle drilling planets without draining the nutrients! The Gems would be able to let planets heal, and reuse them: over and over again without destroying the plants or animals!

Peanut Butter Diamond emerged from the crust! The Peridot gasped in surprise! Her features were certainly...DIFFERENT. She had taken on the properties of the plant used in the experiment. Still so, she was the right size, no extra arms, a perfect specimen!

"H-hello!" The Peridot waved from below! "My name is Peridot ED2X7! Welcome to the world!"

Peanut Butter Diamond looked around with interest, before glancing at the Peridot below. "You- You're so small! So small! How adorable!" The diamond ruffled the Peridot's hair with one of her fingers. In a state of shock, the Kindergartner nearly fell over, and ended up with a hair full of Peanut Butter!

"Stars! I-I know you're excited my Diamond, but please try to control yourself! You are much stronger than me after all!"

"OH! I'm sorry!" the new leader blushed with embarrassment.

————————

As the weeks went by, the Peridot seemed more and more concerned. The new Diamond would follow her around like a massive shadow. She didn't quite know what to do with herself, so she would ask questions. "So...there are other Diamonds...like me?"

"Not exactly like you, but yes! There are a few others!"

"How exciting! When can I meet them?"

"I am unsure."

The Diamond tilted her head in confusion. "Why do you not know?"

"Because...you’re special! There has never been another Diamond made entirely out of organic materials before! It makes you living proof that we can drill planets without hurting the organic creatures that live there!"

"Like the flying ones?"

"Yes."

"-and the swimming ones?"

"Yes. Yes."

"-and the-"

"-YES my Diamond! ALL of the moving organics!"

Peanut Butter giggled in glee! "Oh how wonderful! Such a kind and smart Peridot you are!"

Peridot ED2X7 smiled back, even though worry was invading her mind...

————————

The green Gem was acting...strange today.

"What is wrong Peridot?"

"I received a message from the Diamonds."

"OH! How lovely! Will I finally get to meet them?"

"Yes. Indeed you will!" Peridot ED2X7 forced a smile through her grief.

————————

A massive hand ship landed on Earth several hours later. Peanut Butter Diamond looked at the gargantuan thing, quite impressed, with stars in her eyes! Two Jaspers exited the ship. They both instinctively saluted to the new Diamond, before glancing up at the monster and breaking formation in a horrendous amount of fright!

"OH! Hello there! Please don't be afraid...we're friends!" The Diamond nodded in agreement.

"Merf...Clods. This is your ride my Diamond! Go on in!" the Peridot nodded, tears forming in her eyes.

"What about you my Peridot?"

"I'll be OK. There will be another ship to pick me up later...go on now!"

Peanut Butter nodded before entering the ship.

One of the Jaspers watched the freakish Diamond walk by, as the orange Gem re-exited the ship and walked toward the Kindergartner with a destabilizer. The Jasper had been given specific orders. Peridot did not want the Diamond to see...

————————

"What...what on Homeworld IS she?" Blue Diamond seemed shocked by her new sibling.

"She's UGLY." Pink Diamond stuck out her tongue.

"Watch your mouth Pink! Etiquette! Even if she IS an ugly brute, she is STILL a Diamond!" Yellow snapped!

Peanut Butter began to cry with shame... "W-where is my Peridot? She said she would be on the next ship over..."

"Are you referring to ED2X7? She has been taken care of."

"Taken..."Taken care of"?! What does THAT mean?!" Peanut Butter wailed.

"Squashed! Broken into a billion bits! She'll never make an ugly thing like YOU ever again!" Pink nodded smugly.

"Language Pink! Have some respect!" Yellow snapped again.

Peanut Butter fell on her knees, and wailed to the heavens! HER FRIEND! HER BEST FRIEND! HER ONLY FRIEND! GONE FOREVERMORE!

The other Diamonds continued to talk as if the new sibling wasn't even there- crying on the floor.

Blue picked up the conversation: "What should we do with her Yellow? Certainly Homeworld can never know about her existence. It would ruin our reputation..."

"We can't shatter her either...she may be horrific, but she is STILL a Diamond. it would be considered treason." White Diamond nodded.

"I have...a...reasonable compromise." Yellow looked toward her sisters most serious.

————————

Grape stared at her leader, tears in her eyes.

Peanut Butter placed her head in her hands with grief. No matter how many times she told this story, it always made her upset. An unloved sibling- considered ugly, hideous, wrong...hidden from the world. Erased from history. Erased from documents. Her only comfort was taking in as many "defective" Gems as she could. She desperately hoped that by bringing happiness to others, she- herself could heal from her own tragic past.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was crying while writing this chapter. I want everyone to know that all the people who inquired why I was upset while typing it, thought it was an absolute hoot that I was: “crying over peanut butter”.
> 
> ^_^;;;


	11. Regret and Redemption

Peanut Butter Diamond attempted to re-compose herself. She wiped away several tears before continuing: "Needless to say, me and my sisters have never been...very close." the Diamond nodded. "Many of the Gems that live here were sent from other courts that didn't want them. Others, were nothing but requests that were made directly from my sisters. Sometimes, they would just send us materials and paperwork, and expect this court to create something they could use."

Grape thought this over. It definitely explained why SO MANY signs around the court deemed the Gems in the cells as unusable.

The Diamond continued: "Stars...I wasn't even invited to attend Pink's funeral...I mean...she never really said anything kind to me anyway...but STILL! An invite would have been a nice gesture..."

Grape pondered. "What about...Dark Matter?"

Faux Pearl gasped slightly, before looking at her Diamond with fear! Peanut Butter's mood changed immediately. She looked disgusted. There was an awkward pause that spread around the room. "GRAPE. I assume you learned about "Dark Matter" from the other residents?"

The purple Pearl nodded quickly. Everyone in the room was acting as if she had brought up the most taboo crime of the century.

The Diamond continued: "Dark Matter...was one of ours. I had a wonderful thought! A grand dream of saving my friend from the past! Dark Matter was created to go back in time. I was ignorant, flew my ship too close to the sun, and payed for my mistake dearly with my wonderful Pearls. Not a day goes by when I don't feel guilty and resentful for my decision.... Time-" The leader stared into the distance. "-time is a very dangerous force to play with. There are ill consequences for meddling with time. I know that now."

"You..." Grape looked up at Peanut Butter Diamond with a realization. "-You were trying to save Peridot ED2X7 from getting shattered...you were trying to save her..."

The Diamond nodded sadly.

"STARS!" The whole thing made perfect sense now! Why else would anyone attempt to create such a dangerous Gem?!

"I have always felt that being honest with my mistakes is better than covering them up. Deep down, all Gems that live here know that they will probably be here for the remainder of their lifecycle. Still, they cling onto hope anyway. What happened to Petrified Wood is NOT a terribly common occurrence...and yet, my Gems will always hope to be loved by the Homeworld outside of these walls. Until that time comes, IF that time comes, it is both of our jobs Grape: to CARE, to LISTEN, to ENCOURAGE." The Diamond nodded slowly, as Grape stared at her leader with admiration, stars in her eyes!

"Learn what makes each Gem happy. THAT is your job my Grape! Even if a Gem is weird, or scary, or dangerous- all Gems still have feelings that belong to them alone. THIS is the difference between me and my fellow Diamonds. They only believe a Gem has worth if they LOOK perfect. What they don't realize, is that the inner beauty of a Gem is MUCH more valuable. It's like a Geode! They look like a regular gray stone on the outside, but have untold amounts of beauty on the inside!" Peanut Butter smiled. "Do you understand my dear?"

"Yes...YES! I certainly do! Thank you for answering my questions my Diamond."

The leader nodded in contempt. "Please feel free to return if you have any others. Unlike my sisters, one does not need to fear punishment in order to ask questions and gain knowledge...no matter how unique."

Grape couldn't help herself. She ended up hugging her Diamond's shoe in gratitude. Surprised by this, Peanut Butter ruffled Grape's hair in affection as she always did...spreading peanut butter everywhere! "I can tell Grape; you are already an excellent listener! This job will be a breeze for a kind Gem like you!"


	12. Three's A Crowd

Grape left her Diamond's chambers more determined than ever! She was a bit shocked by the new information she had received, but was now SUPER pumped to help out as many Gems as she could! She might have only been ONE Pearl, but she was going to try her best!

...unfortunately, when she returned back to the rooms on the ground floor, there seemed to be some sort of commotion going on! A large group of Gems had formed around Petrified Wood's previously empty room. The massive crowd was creating quite a din!

"What the? What's going on?" Grape asked inquisitively as she shoved her way through the spectators. She spotted Plastic. "Plastic! Plastic! What's wrong?"

Plastic turned toward the Pearl's voice in a hurry! "GR8? IS THAT U? TNK THE STARS! HURRY!"

Grape pushed her way through, and soon found out why everyone was so upset. She looked upon the scene- most confused. Plastic attempted to explain: "ONLY RM 4, 1. HOMEWORLD SENT 3!"

Sure enough, Plastic was quite correct! Apparently there had been some sort of odd mix-up with the paperwork.

The first Gem was a magnificent specimen! Seemingly carved entirely out of polished white marble! Her likeness was identical to that of Yellow Diamond. The creature looked like a statue that belonged somewhere in front of a library. She was tall, fierce, and (quite honestly) not the most polite Gem Grape had ever come across. Oddly enough, the white marble statue seemed to be arguing with the room's window. "-OF COURSE This room is MINE! It's bad enough that they sent ME to live with you...ugh..."off colors", and NOW you're saying I can't even have my OWN space!? This is UNACCEPTABLE! I mean...just look at yourselves! There's NO WAY this ENTIRE room is for EITHER of YOU!"

"HEY! SHUT UP YOU CLOD! IT'S NOT MY FAULT YOUR PAPERWORK GOT MIXED UP!" A second Gem piped up, absolutely screaming at the top of her lungs just to be heard! It took Grape a second to figure out where the small voice was coming from. She finally spotted a tiny Gem standing on the windowsill. STARS! The Pearl thought that ICE was small, but THIS Gem...well...THIS Gem was minuscule in comparison! Her ENTIRE torso was made up of a singular, round, transparent, sphere of glass! A colorful piece of rainbow-colored decor was seemingly stationary in the middle of the circular glass gemstone.

Apparently, this Gem was a "Marble" as well...a "Glass Cat Eye Marble" to be precise! She was SO tiny; she could easily fit in someone's pocket! The insignificant Gem yelled and screamed while continuing to balance on the windowsill. She had an incredibly wild haircut, and was using small found objects for shoes, pants, and a shirt. Her tiny tantrum was actually quite adorable. Despite her size, it was obvious that she was willing to scrap with anyone who felt like challenging her!

Grape noted that there was third Gem in the room as well. She was a REGULAR Cat Eye Gem. Her gemstone was not made of glass, like the little aggressive ball of fury on the windowsill. The strange-looking Gem was currently saying nothing, and laying down peacefully on Petrified Wood's previous bed.

The Gem resembled a perfect specimen of an Earth cat! She was black as night, fluffy, and had bright green eyes! Upon closer inspection, one of the eyes had been replaced by the gemstone of her namesake-lime green, slightly fogged, and absolutely beautiful! "Rawl?" the cat looked at the two fighting marbles, and tilted her head with confusion.

Baffled, Grape looked at Plastic for assistance.

The pink Gem answered the best way she could: "MY FILES INDICATE THAT THERE R 2 TYPES OF MARBLE: 1 MADE OF STONE, 1 OF GLASS. THERE R ALSO 2 TYPES OF CAT EYE- 1 MADE OF GLASS, THE OTHR A GEMSTONE. THEY SENT US ALL 3 TYPES...THEIR NAMES CROSS OVER EACHOTHER!" Plastic nodded.

"Oh goodness..." Grape looked over the scene, trying desperately to come up with a reasonable compromise. She suddenly remembered that there were several unoccupied beds in the Pearl's chambers! Grape inquired: "Are they ALL level one Plastic?"

"YES. ALL 3 R LVL 1"

"I think I may know how to fix this..."

\----------------

Holding the tiny Cat Eye Marble in one hand, and the Cat Eye Gem in the other- Grape entered the Pearl's chambers, and placed each creature on separate empty cots. She figured the large Marble statue should get the room...due to her massive size- while the two smaller Gems could sleep in here until the situation had resolved itself.

The cat didn't seem to mind this compromise AT ALL! It curled up on a soft pillow, and fell asleep in a cute little ball.

The Glass Marble was a bit more stubborn. She obviously did NOT like being carried about against her will...especially in the palm of some stranger's hand. She complained the entire way, until Grape found another empty bed. The tiny Gem jumped off the Pearl's hand as quickly as possible once they reached their destination. Compared to herself, this bed was HUGE! "This...this is FINE...I GUESS..." the stubborn Marble mumbled before climbing over the sheets like a mountain range, and immediately falling asleep from the stress.

Grape sighed. Peace at last! She would have to inform Faux about their new temporary roommates later on...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (Laughs)
> 
> This chapter came about when one of my good friends (and readers) "the_guy_who_asks" inquired if I was going to use a Marble SCULPTURE, or a Marble TOY in my story.
> 
> ...To which I answered: BOTH! What made it even better was the fact that Marble toys are often considered "cat eye" marbles, and there is also a "cat eye" gemstone too! No wonder those Peridots got their paperwork so mixed up! LOL!
> 
> Some fun trivia about our new Gem friends!:
> 
> Marble- A sculpture-like Gem that was used to tell the grand tales of her awesome, radiant, luxurious, Yellow Diamond to any passerby in Homeworld's capital! She was utilized as a Yellow Diamond actor and would educate younger Gems about the mighty leader's wonderful triumphs! She was marked as defective when she started getting complaints from other Gems about the increasingly rude attitude she had towards her visitors. Marble claimed she was simply trying to: "Stay in character"- at which point she was retired from her job for "treason".
> 
> Glass "Cat Eye" Marble- One of the smallest Gems ever produced, Glass “Cat Eye” Marble was utilized for multiple tasks that required tiny hands. This included: weaving wires inside of walls, finding Gems during cave ins through small crevices, and general maintenance. She was marked as defective due to the simple fact that other Gems kept stepping on, injuring, and slipping on the small Gem. While Glass "Cat Eye" Marble has been poofed many times over- she is incredibly well built to compensate for her size, and is incredibly difficult to shatter by normal means. She tends to be short tempered and acts tough to make up for her lack of height.
> 
> Cat Eye Gem- Utilized as a "companion" Gem. Cat Eye Gem’s primary function was to keep other Gems company on long, lonely flights. She was marked as defective for clawing at random expensive pieces of furnishing, and "Meowing" at odd times- distracting Gems from their responsibilities. Cat Eye Gem can project a non-harmful point laser from gemstone to chase and entertain herself.


	13. Rock Candy

Grape couldn't believe it had only been three days since arriving at Peanut Butter Court. It seemed like so much had happened during that time! She must have fallen asleep again, because she woke in her own bed...with an angry-looking fake Pearl standing over her.

Faux was holding the black cat, incredibly cross.

"OH! FAUX! Hello! What are you doing with Cat Eye?"

"?nialpxe ot eraC !ecaf ym no gnipeels GNIHT...siht htiw pu ekow I" The Fake Pearl did not seem amused.

Grape couldn't really understand Faux what-so-ever, but figured she was angry about allowing the Cat Eyes to sleep here before consulting her. Grape blushed, looking quite guilty. "I'm...I'm sorry Faux...they had no place to go, and this was the only option I could think of at the time. Homeworld sent us THREE Gems, and we only had enough room to accommodate one..."

Faux sighed in understanding. It was their jobs as Pearls, after all, to make the residents here as comfortable as possible. "?thgir lla...hguoht emit txen TSRIF em ksA .yats nac yehT .enif s'tI"

Grape got the general idea, and nodded sheepishly.

\----------------

As the Pearl got ready to head out on her rounds, she noted that the Glass "Cat Eye" Marble was awake on her bed, and looking quite upset. The tiny Gem was not showing off her regular tough attitude, and seemed to have an incredibly hopeless look about her.

Grape decided to pipe up: "Are you doing ok over there Glass "Cat Eye" Marble? You seem...a bit downtrodden..."

The tiny Gem's face quickly transformed into a pint up rage! "Of COURSE I'm NOT ok! What the stars am I even doing here?! Did...did they send me here because no one wanted me? Because...no one NEEDED me? SHALE! They didn't even have enough rooms HERE to accommodate me! I was a Gem that always struggled on Homeworld because of my size...but I was NOT useless! I could fit inside of places no one else could! I was helping Gems every day! W-why would they send me to a place like this one? Was I not good enough?!"

Grape contemplated this question with intrigue, before answering: "On the contrary. I think they sent you here, because the Gems that live in Peanut Butter Court need more help than ANYONE. In fact, you're quite lucky Glass "Cat Eye" Marble...you're actually one of the few Gems here that is not sick enough to be confined to a temperature-controlled cell!"

"Hmmmph...yes...well...would you mind being less formal at least? The name "Glass "Cat Eye" Marble" is WAAY too long..."

"What would YOU prefer to be called than?"

The tiny marble thought for a minute. "How about...Betty? It kind of sounds like "Bitty", but much less insulting."

Grape nodded. "A wonderful name! It will truly be much easier this way...so that Gems don't confuse you with "Cat Eye" or "Marble." The purple Pearl smiled! "I LIKE it! Such a pretty name!"

Betty blushed, but smiled anyway. "Sooooo...where are you heading?"

"Out and about. It is my job as a Pearl to keep everyone happy...and there are just SO many Gems here, I haven't even gotten a chance to even MEET them all yet!" Grape smiled.

The Marble looked up at the Pearl with admiration! "I-I wanna come too! I wanna meet all the Gems and make friends!"

Grape pondered this for a while. "Well, I guess you could ride along in my hair or...something. Be warned though...not all the Gems that come here are happy campers..."

The small Gem nodded in understanding. "I would still like to know everyone! I find that if Gems know I'm walking around, there is less chance of someone stepping on me..."

The Purple Gem almost chuckled at this, before realizing the seriousness of Betty's situation. "HOW many times have you been stepped on?!"

"I've lost count. a LOT I suppose..." the little Gem looked sheepish.

"Well, if it will make you happy, you're more than welcome to join me on my rounds!"

The Marble whooped in excitement!

\----------------

It wasn't long before Grape headed to the commons again. The small Marble had made a comfortable sitting nook using the Pearl's hair.

"Hmmm...let's see here... Grape admired all the signs in the hallway. "I guess we should start on floor one. These particular Gems can leave their rooms as they please...much like YOU Betty! I think it would beneficial to know all of the Gems that live on floor one anyway...they are the only ones that can physically inform me if a problem arises."

The tiny Marble shrugged. "Makes since to me...especially after yesterday's fiasco!"

"I wonder where I should start first? OH! How about Rock Candy? Her room is the closest!"

"Might as well!" Betty nodded, before Grape slowly knocked on the corresponding window with interest-

"VIIIIPPP!" Faster than anyone could comprehend, a pink and purple colored Gem sped to the window at a ridiculous speed! She was taller than Petrified Wood, but still shorter than Grape. Smiling, her bright pink hair bounced as she jumped up and down with excitement! Her gemstone- a massive, fancy, piece of pink rock candy was settled in her left palm.

It took several seconds for Grape to process what had just happened. "Oh! Hello there! You must be Rock Candy! My goodness, are you fast!" The Pearl smiled. "My name is-"

"-VIIIIP!" Rock Candy ran out the door into the commons area before Grape could finish her sentence. In a massive amount of excitement, the Gem looked over the Pearl in every direction- never staying in one spot for too long. Every time she moved, she represented a massive blur. The Gem began to speak: "OH!IKNOWWHATYOURNAMEISALREADY!YOU'REOURNEWPEARLGRAPE!RIGHT?RIGHT!I'MSOEXCITEDTOFINALLYMEETYOUINPERSON!IMEAN,IHADSEENYOUPASSBYACOUPLEOFTIMES,BUTWEHADN'TBEENPROPERLYINTRODUCED!HI!I'MROCKCANDY!"

Feeling slightly overwhelmed, Grape was only able to comprehend half of what the Gem had just said. "Uh...well...it's nice to meet you too Rock Candy! It's awesome to see so much enthusiasm!"

"THANKYOUGRAPE!YOU'RENICE!" Rock Candy sped around the Purple Pearl in a blurred circle! As kind as the new Gem was, she seemed unable to stay in one place for more than a mili-second.

The little Marble attempted to follow the Gem with her gaze. Rock Candy's speed was making her dizzy. "HEY! HEY!...erm...can you-just-hang on a- STOP MOVING AROUND!"

Rock Candy stayed as still as she could at this comment. She was still bouncing like a five-year-old on a twelve pack of soda pop. Curious, the pink Gem spotted the little Gem in Grape's hair!

"OHMYGOSH!YOU'RETHATGLASSCATEYEMARBLEFROMYESTERDAY!YOUARESOOOOCUTE!OHMYGOSH!OHMYGOSH!"

The small Gem blushed in a slight rage. She LOATHED it when people called her..."CUTE".

"OH!OH!YOUARESOLUCKYGRAPE!IWANTHERTORIDEINMYHAIRTOO!"

"I...don't think that would be the...BEST idea..." Grape nodded in nervousness. The point of having Betty tag along in her hair was to keep her safe...NOT to end up on a roller coaster ride...

"AWWWWWW...WHY?!WHYNOT?I'MSURETHEGLASSCATEYEMARBLEWOULDN'TMIND..."

"MY NAME IS BETTY!" The small Gem yelled in a rage! "-and I rather NOT shatter today. THANK YOU VERY MUCH!"

Rock Candy suddenly slowed down a bit. She looked absolutely devastated! Tears formed in her eyes... "BWAAAAAAAAAAYOU'REMEAN!IJUSTWANNABEPALS!" The hyperactive Gem zoomed off into the distance- all the way to the other side of the space station within a blink of an eye- crying the entire way!

Grape looked up towards the Marble, most unamused.

"WHAT?!"

"You couldn't have worded that just a BIT more gently?"

"Look...sometimes, when you're THIS small, you HAVE to be blunt! Some Gems just don't understand how easily my form can dissipate! Stars! Even if I were to fall out of your hair RIGHT NOW, I would poof immediately upon hitting the floor! I don't even WANT to know what would happen to me if I was riding in HER hair! SHEESH!"

Grape sighed, before glancing at Rock Candy's plaque. "Huh...according to this: she was created to carry messages quickly from station to station during the Gem war. It seems, no one wanted her around after the war ended...how sad."

"Probably because she was SO annoying!" Betty huffed.

Grape did not seem amused at this comment what-so-ever. "NOW SEE HERE! If you want to make friends here (or anywhere really), you're going to have to learn how to be more tactful! Try not to be so blunt...find something to compliment! Gems love getting compliments!"

The Marble thought for a second. "Like...compliments on...what?"

"Well...like...the color of their gemstone! Or...their outfit...or...the decorations in their room! You know? Find something positive!"

"Positive...RIGHT!" Betty made a fist of determination- stars in her eyes!

Grape sighed again. "Come on than...let's visit the next room..."


	14. Steel

Grape walked a bit further down the hall. "Okay! We'll try another one! Remember Betty: compliment!"

"Right!" The Marble looked more determined than ever! "I'm going to make a friend!"

"That's the spirit!" The Pearl smiled! "Let's try this one: Steel!" Pearl knocked on the window politely!

...

Nothing happened.

"Huh. Maybe she's not-"

"-CLANG!"

"AAAHHH!"

"AAAHHH!"

Both Grape and Betty screamed at the same time, as a massive scythe-like object slammed itself against the window!

"Wha? Wha? Wha?!" The little Marble was obviously scared to death!

"-CLANG!"

ANOTHER SCYTHE!

"AHHHH! WHY?!" Betty clung to Grape's hair even harder...completely hysterical, crying in fear!

"Ow! Ow! Ow! Hey! That HURTS! Stop pulling on my hair!" The Pearl struggled in pain...resisting the urge to rip the little Marble from her head.

"Oh! Sorry!" Betty let go quickly, blushing slightly.

"It's ok...hmm...maybe we should open the door for her? I mean...she's a level 1 Gem, right? She shouldn't be THAT dangerous...maybe she just has trouble with doorknobs?"

\----------------

...

Grape had opened the door to the room. She was indeed, correct! There was absolutely NO WAY the Gem could have opened the door on her own. The creature scuttled out of the room. She had no hands- only a pair of two massive scythes making up her front arms.

Steel's back feet were also made up of miniature scythes.

Her back?

...Covered in scythes!

There was an obvious place on her front side where a head shape was, and a face SHOULD have been...but the head had no nose, no eyes, no mouth, no ears. The entire Gem looked like a mixture between a metallic hedgehog, and a Wheeler from the film "Return to Oz". The faceless Gem stood stoic as it balanced on its multiple scythe arms.

Both Grape and Betty were unsure what to think of the strange beast. The duo sweated, not quite knowing what to say.

"Erm...Hi there! My name is Grape! Are you Steel?"

"..." The Gem stayed stationary.

Betty made an attempt: "I like your...erm...arms! So shiny and pretty!"

"..." The Gem stayed stationary.

The Pearl tried again: "You must have been stuck in that room for a long time...I can only imagine how frustrating it would have been not to be able to open the door..."

"..." The Gem stayed stationary.

There was a pregnant pause, before the Marble mumbled- "(Do you think she can hear us? I...don't see ears...)"

"(I...I'm not sure...maybe there's another way?)" Grape tapped her foot on the floor ever so slightly...

Steel jumped backwards in surprise! Inquisitively, the Gem began tapping on the floor with one of her scythe arms! "Tap! Tap!"

Surprised by this, Grape tapped her shoe on the floor in a rhythm. "Tap-tapitta-Tap-Tap-"

"-Tap! Tap!" Steel finished the rhythm, before bouncing up and down in excitement! "Tap! Tap-tapitty-tap-tap-tap! Clang! Shuffle!" Steel attempted desperately to communicate in hope!

Grape stood still...completely confused.

"Tap-Tap?" Steel waited for a response.

"..."

"Sh-sh...shuffle..." Steel rubbed her scythe arms together awkwardly and drooped in a slight disappointment.

Grape felt awful that she had no clue what the Gem was trying to say. She tapped her shoe on the floor in sympathy again... "Tap..."

Steel perked up again! "Tap! Tap!" The massive Gem began to move forward while tapping on the floor to get her bearings. She seemed to be using the vibrations of the floor to find her new friend. "Tap! Tap! Tap! Tap!" The steel Gem stopped short of bumping into the Pearl, and (very slowly) put the tip of her arm on Grape's soft shoe! Steel backed up slightly, before seemingly nodding in agreement.

The odd Gem than retraced its steps- backwards, and went back into its room. "Tap! Tap!" Steel struck the door with her arms, and Grape closed the door behind her.

Both the Pearl and the Marble looked through the window, as the Gem used her limbs to relocate her sleeping spot, and laid down to relax on her (slightly tattered) bed.

"Well...that was...interesting. Do you think we made a friend?" Betty was (understandably) confused.

"I-I'm not sure. She didn't attack us though...so THAT'S a good thing...right?"

The Marble nodded in response, before squinting at the Gem's plaque. "Oh! She's a terraformer! Just like a Lapis! She can roll on the ground, and make paths through organic plant life!"

"Huh...so those scary blades..."

"-only good for chopping up leaves and grass!" The Marble smiled.

Grape huffed in relief. "So she just LOOKS scary...never judge a Gem by looks...just like Peanut Butter Diamond said! She's a geode!"

"Nooooo...her name is Steel!" Betty piped up.

Grape chuckled to herself, before continuing her journey...


	15. Salt

The duo was becoming frustrated.

"Hrm...who's left?" Betty seemed disheartened.

"Mmmph...OH! What about THIS one?!" Grape pointed to a sign enthusiastically! "Look! Salt! Nothing scary about salt! Right?" The Pearl smiled with hope.

The Marble shrugged. "Worth a shot..."

Grape nodded, before knocking politely on the corresponding window.

"S-Stay away from me! Please don't come any closer..." a shy voice called from the inside.

Grape glanced into the room, and spotted a Ruby-sized Gem curled up with fear in the far corner. Salt was more pale than snow- and had a sparkling white color all over...almost like she was covered in tiny crystals.

The Pearl sympathized immediately. "You're...You're Salt...right? I'm Grape! The new Purple Pearl! No reason to be afraid!"

"I'm not afraid of YOU... YOU should be afraid of ME!"

Grape smiled pleasantly. "Now, now! Why would I be afraid of you? You seem like a perfectly nice Gem..." the Pearl smiled as she opened the door quite easily!

"NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! DON'T COME ANY CLOSER!" Salt shivered in fear!

Grape tilted her head in curiosity. "Hey...Hey...it's ok Salt! Nothing to fear..." the Pearl stepped into the room carefully, and slowly...trying not to spook the new friend...

Salt looked up at Grape quickly with terror! The sudden movement caused several sprinkles of salt to fall from the Gem's neck...

...

There was immediate chaos!

The Pearl tripped over her own feet, and proceeded to clumsily fall backwards. The giant's massive fall sent the poor Marble flying into the air! Betty screamed in terror, as she landed on Salt's bed with a mighty: "OOMPH!"

Grape blinked in surprise, before sitting up in a panic! "Betty? BETTY?! ARE YOU OK?!"

"I'M HERE!" The little Marble shouted from the bed's mattress.

"Thank the stars!" The Pearl sighed in relief. What a fiasco!

"I-I told you to stay away..." Salt lowered her head sheepishly.

Grape chuckled. "What are to talking about? I just tripped over myself! You didn't do anything wrong..."

"YES...YES I DID! It's my fault...please leave..." Salt looked at her feet with shame.

"Don't be silly! It was my own doing!"

"YEAH! GRAPE almost shattered me just now...NOT YOU!" Betty's comment made the Pearl turn toward the Marble in a massive huff! The incident was NOT intentional! An accident! She did not appreciate Betty's tone...

Salt attempted to keep herself as still as humanly possible. Despite her best efforts, several more grains of salt fell from one of her hands...

"TWANG!"

"AAAAAGGHHHH!"

An unexpected loose bed spring jumped from the mattress and flung poor Betty into the air again! The Marble flew across the room, and was saved from pain (and a possible shattering) by the witty Grape, who quickly dove across the floor and caught the miniature Gem in her cupped hands.

Neither Gem knew what was going on, but the duo finally scurried out of Salt's room, and closed the door quickly.

Salt began to cry in shame! "I-I'm sorry! I'M SO SO SORRY! I-I..." The little Gem wailed in grief!

Grape looked at Salt's plaque and read it quickly:

"Salt- A shy and nervous Gem created as a weapon. Should avoid at all possible costs.

Purpose: Created to be gifted to enemy soldiers. Large eyes and head are used to lower enemy's guard. Referred to by some Gems as: "Cute".

Current Status: Ill luck occurs to any creature within a ten foot radius of Salt. This horrendous luck occurs whenever grains fall from the Gem's form.

Conclusion: Experiment is too powerful and brings bad luck upon ally troops well before being handed over to enemy. Discontinued."

"OH!" Grape gasped.

Betty was still sitting in Grape's hands. She tilted her head inquisitively after reading the plaque. "Huh...a Gem that causes bad luck? What a...strange power..."

"Hermph...sounds like a superstition to me! Getting bad luck over something as inane as some salt falling on the floor! You make your own luck!" The Pearl grumbled to herself as she looked at the upset Salt Gem, crying in the corner of her room. "(I want to fix this...I NEED to fix this...)"

Grape seemed more determined than ever, as she stormed back to the Pearl's Chambers.


	16. Hope

Grape re-entered the Pearl's Chambers in a huff. She placed Betty back onto her own bed, before sulking in the corner of the room...deep in thought.

The tiny Marble looked at the Pearl, confused. "Why are YOU upset?! You weren't the one that was almost shattered TWICE just now!"

Grape gave Betty a look of death. The little Marble clamped her mouth shut quickly.

The Pearl sighed in frustration. "I...I'm starting to think they sent the wrong Pearl for this job. I've been trying my best to make everyone feel welcome and happy, but all I keep doing is screwing everything up!" Grape began to cry. "I mean...half of these Gems I can barely understand, and the other half I just upset constantly! I upset Salt, I upset Uranium, I upset Rock Candy, I almost got YOU shattered...TWICE! Just like you said! I can't understand Steel, or Faux...I can BARELY understand Plastic! STARS! I'm a TERRIBLE caregiver! I'm an awful Pearl!" Grape began to weep in grief, as she put her hands on her face.

Betty thought for a second, attempting to come up with an enthusiastic comeback. She couldn't think of anything to say, and thus, she simply began to cry in frustration as well. It wasn't like she had made a friend today like she had wanted to either...

\----------------

Needless to say, Faux was quite surprised when she returned from her Diamond's chambers to rest for the evening. Upon entry, she discovered the two Gems bawling their eyes out!

"!?ko syug uoy erA !srats ym hO" the fake Pearl seemed most concerned!

Grape gasped from her corner to answer the question. "OH FAUX! I'm the worst Pearl ever! I can't do ANYTHING right!"

"!eurt ton s'tahT"

"Don't bother cheering me up Faux...I'm such an awful Pearl...I can't even understand what YOU'RE saying! A fellow Pearl! We're practically sisters...and I can't even help YOOOOOOOOU!" Grape gasped and howled between upset sobs!

Faux had to think of something...and fast! Her mind went through memories, trying to find something...ANYTHING that would make Grape feel better. Faux took a deep breath, and sighed before she spoke: "Are we not drawn onward to new era?"

Grape stopped sobbing almost instantly, and stared at Faux in surprise! "FAUX! Did you just...?! What did you say?!"

Faux repeated herself: "Are we not drawn onward to new era?"

"Faux! Faux! Your speech! You...you spoke forwards?!" Grape was overjoyed as she hugged her friend with glee, and jumped about with excitement!

The fake Pearl smiled at Grape! "I did! Did I?"

"Yes! Yes! You spoke wonderfully! How is this possible?!"

"In words, alas, drown I."

"Speech can be very difficult...can't it? I understand...Oh! This is wonderful! I'm so happy! Now we can talk about all sorts of things! You can tell me what makes all the other Gems smile, and then we can make everyone happy again!"

"Steven, I left an oily Lion at feline vets!"

"Huh? Steven? Who's Steven? What's a lion?"

"Straw? No, too stupid a fad; I put soot on warts!"

"?Huh? Wha-what the?" Grape seemed more confused than ever now. She looked at Faux in concern.

"OH! I get it!" Betty suddenly piped up with intrigue! "She's speaking in Palindromes!"

"Palindromes?" Grape looked at the Marble with curiosity.

"You know...words and sentences said the same way backwards AND forwards! What a smart Pearl!"

Grape's enthusiasm suddenly waned. "Is this true Faux? Were you speaking in Palindromes?"

The fake Pearl looked away in shame. "...yppah uoy ekam ot detnaw tsuj I"

Grape seemed upset again. "Oh Faux...that was a mean prank!" Grape sat on her bed, even more depressed than before! She had experienced such a surge of hope and joy for her friend...only for it to be snatched away in the blink of an eye.

".truoc siht rof are wen a fo gninnigeb eht ERA uoY .dias I tahw tnaem I"

"Oh Faux...I wish I could understand you all the time. I know you're always trying your best..."

The fake Pearl sighed again, before stating: "No lemons, no melon."

"OH! Just STOP IT Faux! What is THAT even supposed to mean!?" Grape shouted in anger!

"Maybe she's trying to say...you need to get through the difficult stuff, before getting to the sweet stuff? I don't know what a "lemon" or a "melon" is...but it kinda sounded like that's what she was trying to convey..." Betty nodded.

Faux nodded back quickly! Getting to know the Gems of Peanut Butter Court did, indeed, take time and effort! Faux recalled the frustration of the Pearls that came before Grape...

...the only difference NOW, was that there were NO other Pearls like Grape. She was all alone...with no other "regular" Purple Pearls to teach her the ropes. Faux would have to try her best to convey everything she had learned. She was (after all), one of the oldest Gems here. She knew everything there was to know about this place! Faux knew all the Gems, all the hallways, all the nooks and crannies...all of the...! "EPARG! EPARG!" Faux shouted suddenly! She had a solution to her friend's problem!

"Sigh...what is it Faux?"

"!pleh nac ohw enoemos wonk I"

Grape tilted her head in curiosity, wondering what had gotten her friend so riled up...

"!stodireP eht ot uoy ekat ll'I !eparG stodireP ehT"


	17. The Lab

Grape still didn't know what Faux was so excited about. The fake Pearl had grabbed her friend's arm, and was lugging her through a part of the space station she hadn't yet explored.

Betty had decided to stay behind for...whatever THIS journey was. She claimed she had experienced enough excitement for one day.

"Faux! Where the stars are you taking me?! I've never been to this part of the building before...won't we get lost?"

"...gniog er'ew erehw wonk l .yrrow t'noD"

This statement was not helpful what-so-ever. Grape figured she should just trust her friend, and go with her gut on this one.

\----------------

After walking for about 30 minutes, the two Pearls finally arrived at their destination. The door in front of them simply had a sign that said: "Lab and Kindergarten Area".

"!ereh er'eW" Faux beckoned to the sign enthusiastically!

"Lab and Kindergarten? OH! We have our own Kindergarten?!"

"!esruoc fO" Faux nodded with excitement!

"How can that be?! There's no minerals or cliff deposits on a space station..."

Faux ignored the comment, and knocked on the door pleasantly! Several seconds later, a Peridot answered...looking incredibly annoyed. "What is it? We're busy!"

"!olleH" the Pearl smiled.

"Oh! Faux! It's you!" The Peridot smiled! Her mood changed instantly upon seeing the friend! "What the-?! Is that? Is that...A NEW Purple Pearl?! Is Homeworld sending us Pearls again?!"

"!peY"

"Oh! THANK THE STARS! Come in! Come in!" The Peridot seemed more than happy to let the duo enter the facility!

As Grape entered the lab, she jumped slightly! The Peridot they had been talking to seemed to have a foot growing out of her back!

"Erm...erg...uh..." Grape tried not to stare at the abnormality.

The Peridot glanced toward the Pearl, and immediately understood her discomfort. "You're staring at my extra foot...aren't you!?"

"Erm...no! No! Not at all! What extra foot? You have an extra foot? I didn't notice!" Grape attempted to be as polite as possible, while avoiding her gaze in the most obvious manner.

The Peridot chuckled! "Don't worry about it! It's just an abnormality...thank you for putting on airs though! Almost every single Peridot that works here is defective..."

"Really?!" Grape glanced at the Peridot, quite surprised.

"Indeed!" The green Gem smiled. "Nearly every defective Peridot is sent to Peanut Butter Court! Diamond's orders! I'm not quite sure why...but Peanut Butter seems especially fond of Peridots!"

Grape couldn't help but smile! She knew EXACTLY why her Diamond would want to save so many defective Peridots specifically.

The Peridot laughed! "HA! Homeworld's loss! Some of the most talented, intelligent, Kindergarteners I've ever met have been defective! Peanut Butter Diamond is one smart leader!"

Faux nodded in agreement!

"Anyway...what's your name new Pearl?"

"Grape!"

"Well! Welcome to our lab Grape! The other Peridots here call me Analog! Let me give you the grand tour!"

\----------------

The next few hours were filled with fear, intrigue, and oddities!

Grape looked up amazed as Analog displayed their huge synthetic cliffside! "This cliffside is made entirely out of recycled materials! It can be injected with the necessary components to simulate any cliff conditions during incubation!"

"Wow..." Grape glanced at the scene with wonderment! The massive fake cliff was behind a tall window. The Pearl could see multiple off-color Peridots, dangling on climbing ropes while injecting minerals into the structure!

\----------------

The trio arrived into a room full of vials. Analog explained: "This is the room where we test new elements and serums to make our existing Gems more comfortable! Have you met Amber already Grape?"

The Pearl nodded.

"-Well, this is the place where us Peridots are testing different techniques to make her less sticky."

"Ahh!" The Pearl nodded in understanding!

\----------------

The last room had various holding cells. "...and THIS is where we keep Gems after they've emerged from our synthetic cliffside! Some will go right back into Homeworld society, while others stay here at Peanut Butter Court.

There was only one Gem being held in the cells at the moment...and she was gargantuan!

Grape looked up at the massive Gem with a horrendous sense of fear! The monster was seemingly made up of giant orange rocks, and was (at least) 20 feet tall!

"This Gem is nicknamed "Bolder". Blue Diamond commissioned her! She's going to help Bismuths crush and flatten areas for potential building sites! She's being sent out in a few days. We just need to make sure her vitals are good!" Analog waved pleasantly at the massive Gem! Bolder sheepishly waved back!

The Peridot nodded. "Now! There must be some reason for your visit! Faux only brings me new Pearls when they have concerns or questions..."

Grape blushed at this comment, before looking at her sister. Faux coaxed her friend with encouragement. "...actually, there ARE several questions and concerns I have about our...residents."

"Shoot." Analog seemed more than prepared for any inquiry Grape had for her.

"Well...for one thing...how does one communicate with Steel? ...or get close to Salt without upsetting her? Also, is Uranium always angry? How do you make her happy? I don't want to cause her any pain again...Is there any way to calm rock candy down? What kind of stuff makes our resident Gems smile? Also...what is THAT?!"

Grape pointed at a massive, life-sized, pink, plastic, statue of an Agate! The face on the Agate statue looked humorously angry.

Analog laughed! "That's our Agate! Plastic made her for us! All Peridot teams require an Agate to boss them around you see? But since the work we do here isn't...exactly..."by the book", it's better if OUR Agate isn't real!" The Peridot nodded. "-this way if the Homeworld Diamonds contact us, we can truthfully say: "Yes my Diamond! Our Agate has been doing an excellent job!"" Analog snickered to herself, looking incredibly devious. "As for all that other stuff..."

\----------------

Grape soon found her arms filled with SO MANY physical paper manuals, that she couldn't move! "Ergh...do you have any...uff...digital copies of these?"

"Nope!" Analog shook her head. "All confidential Gems in Peanut Butter Court only have paper trails. It's law. If we had digital copies of everything, there would be hacking risks."

"May I...erngh...borrow these?"

"Certainly...but treat them well! They are incredibly old, and the only copies we have!"

"I'll bring them back after reading them. You have my word." Grape quickly started placing the physical manuals into her gemstone for safe keeping.

"Oh! You might also be interested in this!" Analog proceeded to hand Grape another MASSIVE book with a glossy finish.

"OOF! WHHHHHYYYY?!" Grape struggled under the excess weight, before being forced to sit on the floor. The Pearl finished putting the manuals into her Gem, before staring at the extra big glossy book. The cover had fancy lettering that simply stated: "Trinkets and Treasures".

Grape flipped the book with curiosity...

...it was a catalogue.

"They deliver anywhere in the cosmos, including here! The other previous Purple Pearls, (stars rest their shards), used to order toys, books, and games to help keep the residents occupied! It's how Ice got that fluffy artificial organic creature she likes so much!"

"Oh! So that's where she got it from!" Grape smiled! "What the Stars is that toy supposed to be anyway?"

"Who knows?" Analog shrugged with ignorance. "All that matters is that it makes her happy!"

Grape nodded before stuffing the catalogue into her gemstone as well. "Thank you for all of your help! I've been kind of lost since I got here. This entire place is quite overwhelming!"

"Overwhelming, but also kind of a breath of fresh air...isn't it?" Analog quipped.

Grape nodded.


	18. Research

The days that followed were filled with chaos.

Grape hadn't left the Pearl's Chambers- not even ONCE to check in on her patients. Now that Steel knew there was a new Pearl caretaker, she was fairly persistent in tapping on the window- hoping to get more exercise. Plastic and Rock Candy let her out on several occasions, but when Steel touched their shoes, she seemed disappointed that neither one of the Gems was the new Pearl.

Salt (of course) blamed herself. She was the last Gem Grape had visited before disappearing. The little, white, Gem figured that her bad luck had scared the Pearl off.

Several Gems on the upper floors were simply distraught that Grape hadn't bothered to visit them yet. Amber seemed more depressed. She desperately wished for someone to talk to. She could hear the little Ice weeping several cells over-all alone.

Even Uranium seemed downtrodden. Why did she have to be so negative ALL the time?! No wonder the Pearl hadn't come back!

\----------------

In actuality, Grape was madly doing research on her bed. As she scrolled through the manuals, she noted that there was a grand array of various information! Some files were simply written like scholarly journals- nearly impossible to read. There were regular journal entries from previous Pearls as well though! These seemed to obtain much more helpful information.

Grape found several translation sheets for Steel. She took pictures of these using her internal memory, before returning to her reading.

\---------------

By day two, even Betty was becoming stir crazy! "What the stars are you doing over there?! You haven't spoken, slept, or rested since you got back!"

"Research Betty. I'm doing research."

"On WHAT?!"

"On the other Gems that live in the Court. There is TONS of useful information in here- some of it is even written by previous Pearls!"

"Soooooo...you're basically reading private files on the life of EVERY Gem in the Court?! I'm not gonna lie...that's...that's kinda creepy. It's like you're stalking everyone..."

"IT IS NOT!" Grape blushed horrifically. "According to these documents, there was originally one Pearl assigned to every TWO Gems in Peanut Butter Court. Meaning, I'm basically attempting to do the work of over 40 Pearls...all by myself!" Grape huffed before digging her nose back into the reading material.

"Sooooooo...is there anything about ME in there?"

"NO Betty. You just arrived a couple of days ago. These files could be thousands of years old!"

"Ahhh...I see."

There was a pregnant pause, while the Marble thought this over. "Sooooo...when do you think you're going to finish those anyway? I want to explore again!"

"You can go exploring NOW, if you want to..."

"No I can't! Not by myself! I'll get stepped on again! You know that!"

Grape looked up from the manual again in a huff. "Do you need something to do Betty?! I just re-read the same sentence three times! STARS! I'm never going to get through these if you keep interrupting me!"

The Marble sunk into herself with shame. Grape sighed, trying to calm herself down. "I'm sorry for snapping...I just REALLY need to concentrate...HERE! You can look at this one..." Grape placed the massive glossy catalogue on Betty's bed.

"What the?! What is this thing?" The small Gem seemed confused.

"It's a catalogue. The Peridot I talked to said that the old Pearls used to order stuff from the inside to keep the residents happy. Who knows? Maybe you'll find something YOU like in there Betty!"

"OH! Shopping! How fun!" The small Marble struggled to turn the first page of the book before glancing at the contents with interest!

Grape rolled her eyes, and returned to her own reading material.

\----------------

As the fifth day past, Grape finally, FINALLY ended up with as much useful information as the manuals could provide. The Gem stood up...which was the most movement she had displayed in DAYS. "Alright! I'm going to return these manuals! Betty, keep an eye on the catalogue!" Grape didn't have to ask twice. The Marble had fallen asleep on the thing.

Determination on her face, Grape exited the Pearl's Chambers! All the residential Gems sitting in the common area looked up excitedly with hope...

...before the Pearl completely ignored them all and began to briskly walk toward the Kindergarten area again. The group was (understandably) disappointed, and returned back to their leisurely activities.

\----------------

Grape knocked on the door excitedly! "Analog?! Are you here? I brought the manuals back!"

The Peridot answered the door sheepishly. "Oh good! You're finally finished!" The Kindergartener took the massive stack of files back with gratitude. "Now...Erm...Grape? Perhaps you should return to your regular routine..."

Grape nodded, before smiling! "Of course Analog! That's what I would have done anyway! Is it ok if I keep the catalogue for now? Admittedly, I haven't been able to look at it..."

"That's fine...just...don't let it distract you from your prime objective...ok?"

The Pearl nodded with glee!

\----------------

Felling more confident than ever before, Grape returned to the commons area! She felt like she could face the day head on!

...Unfortunately, something seemed...rather...off upon her return. The resident Gems saw her coming, and proceeded to all retreat into their rooms in a huff!

Confused by this behavior, Grape approached Plastic's room first. "Hey! Hey Plastic! How are you today?" The Pearl knocked from the outside.

"Vlip! Blurp..." Plastic gave off some random noises, before ignoring the Pearl entirely.

Surprised by this change in attitude, Grape figured the Gem needed some space. The Pearl moved on to Salt's room.

Grape sighed-trying her best to concentrate. "Ok...you've got this..." The Pearl knocked politely, opened the door, and immediately stood sideways so that her gemstone was facing the room. Grape projected a hologram of herself walking toward the little Gem.

The white Gem was currently laying on her bed- arms crossed, face contorted with anger. The hologram looked down at Salt with a smile! "Hello there Salt! How are you today?"

"HUMPH." Salt responded with a grunt.

"Hmm...what's the matter Salt?" The hologram sat on the bed, as the little Gem scooted as far away as she could from the projection.

"You were gone for days! We were really worried! You didn't even say hello this morning when you FINALLY came out...and now you're acting like nothing even happened!"

"Oh!" Both the real Grape and her hologram looked incredibly guilty about this at the same time. "I-I'm sorry Salt...I was doing some extra research so that I wouldn't make you upset again..."

"Yeah...well...I AM upset! So is everybody else!" The little Gem "herumphed" again, before ignoring the Pearl entirely.

Feeling disheartened, Grape allowed the hologram to dissipate, before closing Salt's door in disappointment. What had she done? She had been so obsessed with HOW to make everyone happy, that she had neglected to actually DO it!

Grape wandered toward the elevators, and pressed the button up to Uranium's floor. She had discovered a special surprise for the Gem during her studies that might cheer her up...

\----------------

The Pearl exited the elevator, and approached the Gem's room. "Uranium? Uranium?"

"HUFF!" Uranium seemed peeved as well. She stood with her back facing Grape.

The Pearl decided to try the trick she had learned anyway. "I have a surprise for you!" Grape cleared her throat before reciting a song she had found hidden in the manuals. The tune was soft, and sweet, and calm.

Uranium suddenly turned to the Pearl in a massive rage! She ran forward before banging on her window in aggression!

Grape stopped the song immediately, looking absolutely terrified!

"WHERE?!" Uranium shouted!

"W-Where?!" Grape questioned back.

"WHERE DID YOU LEARN THAT SONG?!"

"OH! Um...I've been doing some research for the last few days! That song was included-"

"-YOU'VE BEEN READING OUR PERSONAL FILES?!" The Gem was more upset than ever now!

"I-I...just thought it would help-"

"NO!" Uranium slammed her fist into the window again. "That...that was HER song...that was STRAWBERRY'S song!" The Gem looked at the Pearl with tears in her eyes. "NEVER EVER SING THAT SONG AGAIN! YOU ARE NOT HER! YOU COULD NEVER REPLACE HER! NO PEARL CAN!" The Gem collapsed upon herself and began to weep heavily. "You're a monster Grape...bringing up such memories without thinking of consequence. GET THE FRACK OUT OF HERE! I NEVER WANT TO SEE YOU AGAIN!"

Grape stood, face full of tears, before running back toward the elevator. Weeping and sobbing with absolute grief, Grape ran back into the "Pearl's Chambers", and slammed the door behind her.

What had she done?!


	19. Lost and Found

After slamming the door to the Pearl's Chambers, Grape wailed again in agony before dropping herself on her bed- crying to the heavens!

Betty snorted, and woke up from the sudden din of sorrow. Some of the catalogue's gloss had ended up on her face. "HUH?! WAZZIT?!" The tiny Gem blinked slightly with fatigue, before noticing how upset Grape was...yet again. "Another rough day huh?"

"WAAAAAAAHHH!" Betty could hear the Pearl wailing through her pillow.

"Look...erm...I don't wanna be THAT Gem, but is THIS-" Betty rudely signaled toward the upset Pearl "-Like...a regular thing with you? Every time you come in here, you always seem to be crying. I'm not gonna lie Grape, your negative attitude is really bringing down the whole mood of the room here..."

"WAAAAAAAHHH!"

"Sooooo...is that a "YES"...or..."

"SHUT UP YOU CLOD!"

Betty closed her mouth quickly, before inquiring: "Wanna talk about it?"

Through Grape's horrific moaning, Betty could hear muffled screams and bits of the day's horrific story. Much of it was was too difficult to understand, but the little Marble got the just of it- "All the Gems hated Grape", "Grape felt unloved and underappreciated", "She had upset everyone despite all the work she had done to avoid this exact situation", yatta, yatta.

"Mmph." Even the Marble seemed frustrated by this news. She, herself, had physically sat here and SEEN how much work the Pearl had put herself through, JUST to make the court happy. "You know...not EVERYONE is upset with you..."

"MMPH?!"

"-I was here for the last five days watching you slave over that group of clods! You're the hardest working Pearl I've ever seen!"

"MGFT?"

"YEAH! FORGET THEM! Let's go for a walk!"

————————

...and thus, the duo did just that!

Betty was riding in Grape's hair again, and instructed the Pearl to avoid all the other Gems entirely. "Let's go over here! I've never been through this hall before!" Betty nodded in excitement!

Surprisingly, there was a LOT of abandoned and unused corridors on the space station. It was almost as if half of the gargantuan building only existed for possible future extensions. There were halls, and empty rooms, and loose wire, and dozens of floors- some which required the stairs to enter because the elevator on this side of the building was not installed yet. It would be extremely easy to get lost in a place like this...

————————

...which is EXACTLY what happened.

"Oh! Didn't we go left up here? I recognize that pile of computers!" Betty nodded.

"- NO...you're thinking of the wire pile! That was two floors below this one."

"Isn't this exciting?! I feel like we're exploring new terrain!"

"I feel like we're LOST."

"Oh! Come on Grape! We've been wandering these corridors for hours now, but you've gotta admit- you're feeling a LOT better! See? No tears!"

"I just don't really want to be near anyone right now..."

"I hear ya!" The Marble nodded.

"I just...don't understand it Betty! I've been working SO hard to make everyone happy...and yet...no matter WHAT I do, it just makes everything worse!"

"Hmmm. Did it ever occur to you that YOU are not the problem here?"

"What do you mean?"

"You told me there was a big, tragic, accident where a lot of other Pearls were lost?" Grape nodded her head, almost bucking the Marble off! "CAREFUL! STARS! Where was I...? Oh! Yeah! So maybe the reason why everyone was so mad at you for disappearing for such a long time, is because they were worried about ya'! Honestly, those other Gems seem obsessively...CLINGY."

Grape laughed. "YOU'RE one to talk! You are, quite literally, clinging to my head!"

Betty shrugged "Well, you're not WRONG! Honestly though...l think the other Gems in this court have been coddled far too long. Perhaps they need to be left alone for a bit to learn some independence and figure out how to do stuff on their own!"

"Betty! What a thing to say!"

The Marble shrugged. "It's called tough love. Sometimes you have to make difficult decisions and just let Gems do their own thing! That's how I learned to survive when I was still on Homeworld. Do you know how scary it is to be walking down a hallway at my size when there's like...30 giant shoes coming at you from every direction?"

"It sounds...terrifying..."

"Oh it WAS. I ended up having to learn how to travel from place to place by crawling through the walls! I was completely lost for the first couple of months, but figured it out on my own eventually...kind of like what we're doing now! YUP! Good times...GOOD times..." Betty looked into the distance with a sort of nostalgic bliss.

"Do you really miss it THAT much?"

"Miss what?"

"Being a part of a Homeworld court...I mean...was it really THAT great?"

"Well, it IS true that I am treated MUCH better here than I ever was on Homeworld. I do kind of miss feeling useful though. Gems would rely on me to fix machines with small parts, or climb into small places to help find and rescue Gems during cave-ins. I feel much more...SAFE here, but I also don't feel terribly helpful. Even if I was yelled at a lot on Homeworld, at least I was DOING something! A Gem could go stir crazy in a place like this...you know?"

"Yeah...I see what you mean." As Grape thought about this issue, she ended up with a twinkle in her eye! "BETTY! YOU'RE A GENIUS!"

"I know."

"No...no...I mean, you just gave me a brilliant idea!"

"Oh! You're welcome!" The little Marble answered- smug as ever!

"I think I just figured out a way to lighten my own load, and to make everyone happy again at the same time! OH! BETTY! Why didn't I see it before?! It's so OBVIOUS!"

"See?! I told you! Walks always help clear your head! Now, If only we could figure out where we are..."

Grape turned the corner, and found a very familiar room utilized as a shipping dock. "OH! I've been here before! This is where the ship landed when I first got to Peanut Butter Court!"

"AHH! Good! a recognizable landmark!" Betty nodded. "Now all we have to do is retrace your steps from your journey, and we'll be back home again!"

Grape nodded with glee and hope! This new plan would be much less work...AND would benefit everyone! She just knew that the other Gems would love it!


	20. Apologies

As Grape and Betty re-entered the main court, the duo was quickly approached by a panicked Faux! "!YLETAIDEMMI...UOY EES OT STNAW DNOMAID RETTUB TUNAEP ?!NEEB SYUG UOY EVAH EREHW"

"Calm down Faux. We just went for a walk, and got a smidge bit lost." Betty answered- cool as a cucumber.

"!SYAD EVIF ROF ENOG NEEB EV'UOY"

Betty tilted her head in curiosity. It was clear that the fake Pearl's statement wasn't getting through. Faux sighed. "...em wollof...tsuj...tsuJ" the Pearl beckoned for the duo to take her lead, before bringing them to Peanut Butter's Chamber door.

Grape swallowed, and sweated profusely. "Pea...Peanut Butter..."

Betty looked down at Grape in absolute terror. The little Marble had not been properly introduced to her new Diamond yet, but if the woman was ANYTHING like the Homeworld Diamonds...than YES. Now would be the perfect time to panic and (possibly) run away. Betty looked in all directions attempting to find a hiding spot, before remembering she was on top of Grape's head. As a last, desperate, resort-the small Gem dug underneath Grape's hair, and proceeded to cover herself with as much of the stuff as possible.

Grape scowled at this. Now, not only was her head extremely itchy, but her haircut was messed up. She was fairly certain she looked ridiculous...an unfortunate situation considering she was probably going to be punished for leaving her post for so long.

Faux pressed several buttons on her Diamond's door panel. The massive entryway slowly opened to the dark chamber, as if inviting its frightened guests to an impending doom.

"GRAPE!" The leader roared in aggravation from the darkness!

"Y-Yes? My Diamond?"

"COME FORWARD!"

Grape did just that. She could hear Betty gasp in shock as the leader suddenly exposed herself to the light. The little Marble wasn't sure what to expect, but she certainly wasn't expecting...THIS. "(What the stars?!)" Betty mumbled in fear. The Diamond wasn't purple...NOR very "Diamond-looking".

The massive Diamond looked at the tiny Pearl in concern. "Grape. You have been missing for over five cycles."

"I-I HAVE?!"

"You have." The leader nodded

"STARS...I'm-I'm so sorry! I didn't realize-" The Pearl twittled her hands nervously.

"-Where were you Grape?"

"I'm...not sure. I started walking, ended up in a part of the space station that had no Gems, and became lost. I couldn't find my way back."

"I see. Why were you walking on that side of the space station in the first place?"

"I needed to..." Grape paused as she looked toward Betty briefly. "-clear my head." The Pearl nodded with guilt.

"Clear your head, Hmm?" The Diamond suddenly looked very smug. She smirked with interest.

Grape tilted her head in confusion, before calming down a bit. Peanut Butter seemed to be displaying a more lax attitude...her normal self.

"So...what were you clearing your head of?"

"I was...incredibly upset. I don't wish to go into details...but let's just say- I've been spending all of my time trying to educate myself in order to improve our resident's lifestyle...and it...the research I mean...did not go as smoothly as planned."

"I know."

Grape looked up at her Diamond in surprise. "You-You DO?!"

The Diamond laughed! "Of course my Grape! There are cameras everywhere! I saw the whole thing! In addition, Faux informed me how much you were researching and working every night when she returned to the Pearl's Chambers."

"OH! Well...I'm very sorry. I feel like I disappointed and secluded all our residents. Everyone was so angry with me. Perhaps a different Pearl would be better suited for this-"

"-NO!" The Diamond slammed her fist in anger! "You were doing everything in your power to improve the lifestyle of my other Gems Grape! I...probably would have asked my Diamond BEFORE going through confidential files..." Peanut Butter scratched her chin. "-but that was the fault of Analog. NOT you."

"M-My Diamond! Please don't punish Analog! She's such a nice Peridot, and was just trying to be helpful..."

"I have already spoken to her on confidentiality protocol. She is perfectly fine, and has learned from her mistake." Peanut Butter smiled and nodded. "THESE Gems, however, have something they would like to say..." Peanut Butter beckoned someone forward from the shadows- It was all the Gems from level one. The lot was blushing in embarrassment. "Well? Do you have something you wish to say to poor Grape here?"

The group fumbled awkwardly.

"Come, come now. Whatdoya' say?" The Diamond coaxed the Gems like a group of children.

"WE'RE...SORRY..." the level one Gems blushed horribly, as they forced the chant that was expected of them.

"...and what are you sorry for?"

"...FOR MAKING GRAPE SAD..."

"There we are! Good job everyone!" Peanut Butter smiled politely as she nodded in approval.

Grape was a bit taken aback! She had never seen such a strange, ritualistic, group apology like that. She wondered where her Diamond had learned such an odd behavior!

The Diamond laughed at Grape's confused face! "When I was on Earth, I would often see the local species-Humans, have their pebbles apologize in this odd manner when they had hurt another one's feelings. It seemed effective and adorable-I have utilized it since then. Oh! Also you Gems cannot leave your quarters freely for a week...and...um...no supper!"

The group groaned in annoyance.

Salt piped up: "What's supper?"

The Diamond shrugged. "I don't know...but that's what the Humans say!"

Rock Candy seemed annoyed. "HOWAREWESUPOSSEDTOAVOIDIT,IFWEDON'TKNOWWHATITIS?!"

The Diamond shrugged again.

At this point, Betty popped out of her hiding spot with interest! This Diamond didn't LOOK like any Diamond she had seen before, but she wasn't ACTING like a regular Diamond either.

"What's that?" Peanut Butter could barely see the Marble that had suddenly appeared in Grape's hair. The massive leader leaned in, and had to squint horribly just to get the general shape of the small Gem. "Is-is it? A Gem? Stars! My sight isn't what it used to be! Are you a Gem?"

"YES! I CERTAINLY AM!" Betty yelled in hopes of being heard. If the Diamond couldn't SEE her, perhaps she could HEAR her?

"OH! You must be the new Glass "Cat Eye" Marble! STARS! You are...the size of a Pearl, TO a Pearl!" The Diamond seemed incredibly impressed that such a small, fragile thing existed! "So...ADORABLE! So...CUTE!"

Betty blushed. "DON'T CALL ME CUTE! MY NAME IS BETTY...erm...MY DIAMOND...please?"

"Betty..." Peanut Butter thought to herself. "What a...UNIQUE name for a Gem." The Diamond smiled while looking down on the new friend. "I am unsure if I can give you our traditional greeting here...you may end up stuck in my finger!"

"Erm...what?"

The Diamond nodded to Grape, before patting her shoulder puff with one of her massive fingers. The shoulder ended up covered in peanut paste again. The Pearl nodded, before putting the excess paste onto her own finger, and rubbing it into Betty's hair!

"AAKKK! WHY THE STARS DID YOU DO THAT?!" The little Gem seemed most annoyed!

"Tradition." Grape nodded in explanation.

Peanut Butter bellowed! "Well, I'm glad that's all been settled now! All of you can return to your rooms at leisure." The Diamond nodded in agreement.

\----------------

The walk back to the commons was incredibly awkward. YES, the Gems of floor one HAD apologized, but it had felt fake and forced...not a REAL apology.

"Erm...Grape?" Salt kept her distance from the crowd, but still wanted to say something. "I...I just wanted to say...I'M SORRY!" The little Gem began to wail! "I-I was so mad because you scared me...and then I made you run off again! I was so worried that the last thing you would remember me saying would be shouting for such a dumb reason!"

"Oh! Salt! It's ok...I know all of you were upset with me for being absent during my research..."

"-NO! It's not ok! I was a jerk! I mean...you even taught yourself how to project holograms for me...just like my other Pearl used to do! My other Pearl, Marmalade, said that it was a really, REALLY, hard trick to learn..."

"Salt..." at this comment, Grape stopped suddenly, and calmed herself. She concentrated while projecting another hologram of herself walking toward the tiny, white Gem. The hologram proceeded to hug salt with gratitude, and pick her up in a similar way a mother would pick up a child. Grape remembered reading about the Pearl's technique in the manual. Projecting a hologram was easy- but creating one with enough artificial mass to interact and pick up Salt was the tricky part. She recalled Marmalade's exact notes. This seemed to be the only way to get close to the small Gem, without risk of stress or falling all over herself.

Rock Candy tilted her head slightly at the hologram while bouncing and zipping about. The Gem was now equally curious what Grape had learned about her while doing research. She approached the Pearl cautiously. "UM...IKNOWITALKWAYTOOFAST,BUTIHOPEYOUCANUNDERSTANDTHIS:IREALLYAMTRUELYSORRYFORTREATINGYOUBADLYAFTERYOUDIDSOMUCHWORKANDSTUFF..."

Grape nodded at Rock Candy almost with a Zen-like bliss- she WAS still trying to concentrate on Salt's hologram, after all. The Pearl put one of her hands on Rock Candy's forehead. The gesture seemed to calm the Gem down a bit...not entirely...just enough so that she would stop bouncing at least.

Plastic seemed impressed at this! "WOW U LRND A LOT GR8!"

The Pearl nodded in agreement.

It seemed that all the tension in the room had dissipated at this point. Perhaps, Grape WAS the Pearl for this job after all...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A BIG thanks goes out to writer: The_Lampman
> 
> ...for helping me Beta this thing! You're AWESOME!


	21. Cat Eye

With the new morning came a new start!

Grape decided to round up all the Level One Gems so that everyone was in the same place. The Pearl looked around the room in satisfaction! Even Steel had been assisted to the tables!

The Pearl nodded. "Thank you everyone for arriving at this special meeting! I truly appreciate all of you being so prompt!"

Plastic spoke up first: "WAT IS GOING ON GR8?"

Grape clapped! "I'm glad you asked Plastic! I wanted to talk to you all about a dire situation. While I was in the Pearl Chambers doing my research, I came across a shocking statistic!"

The crowd leaned in with anticipation.

The Pearl continued: "-I found out that there were around 40 Purple Pearls here originally- one for every two Gems. I'm embarrassed to admit it, but it's going to be nearly impossible for me to make everyone happy all on my own. I need some...help." Grape dropped her head in shame. "...because you guys are the only group of Gems here that can leave your rooms, I was wondering...perhaps...if you could help me with my rounds?...Just to talk, and give the secluded Gems some company?"

"Sooooo...you want US to do YOUR job for YOU?" The massive marble statue that looked like Yellow Diamond huffed in insult! "WELL! Count ME out! I have never met such a brazen, RUDE, Pearl before! Asking us to do a SERVANT'S job! The NERVE!" The statue retreated back to her room huffing and puffing in disbelief!

Grape looked rather hurt at the comment, until she noted that the statue was the only Gem that seemed offended by the idea.

Plastic piped up again: "WILL HAPY HLP GR8!"

"YEAH!ICOULDPROBABLYHELPALLTHEGEMSREALLYSUPERDOOPERFAST!" Rock Candy nodded quickly!

"The object isn't SPEED Rock Candy, but rather, empathy! Just listen and respond!" Grape smiled!

The group nodded in agreement!

The Pearl clapped in relief! "OH! THANK THE STARS! THANK YOU ALL! This is going to help me SO much!...There is...erm...ONE Gem that I am unsure HOW to cheer up...erm...Uranium. She...kind of called me a "monster", and said she never wanted to see me again...like...ever?" The Pearl sweated with shame. "Does anyone have any ideas? I'm open to suggestions..."

The Gems looked among themselves nervously. It was obvious that Uranium had a HORRENDOUS reputation and temper...

————————

Uranium was in her cell- bitter and depressed like always. She heard the elevator approaching her floor, and rolled her eyes as the machine stopped in front of her hall.

Great. That retched Pearl was probably going to come up to her again. Her good intentions were always incredibly offensive, depressing, and (honestly) kind of desperate and sad.

The elevator door opened. Uranium looked through her window, and was quite surprised to see (at least) six various Gems looking quite nervous from the inside of the device. In a sudden amount of excitement, the massive group shoved a small black something onto the floor, before forcing the elevator doors closed, and descending once more.

"What the?!" Uranium attempted to look around the hall outside through her tiny window. More confused than ever, the Gem finally found what the massive party had shoved out of the elevator.

A black cat was sitting in the corner of the hall- licking her paw and cleaning her face.

"HEY! HEY YOU! GET! I don't like visitors!"

The cat ignored Uranium, and continued to clean her face.

Uranium was becoming more annoyed by the minute. "HEY YOU CLOD! DON'T IGNORE ME!"

The animal looked up at the miniature window, and stopped cleaning herself. As the cat stared at the Gem on the other side, Uranium noted that one of the creature's own eyes WAS its gemstone.

"AH-HA! So you ARE a GEM! Who the Hell are you?!"

The cat said nothing.

"...ANSWER ME!"

"Merf?" The cat tilted its head with curiosity.

"What the?!"

"Braow! Moof mer."

This Gem made no sense! Was it unable to speak? Uranium suddenly felt very guilty for yelling at it. "You...you can't speak?"

"Merr."

"Can you tell me your name?"

"Prrrrrrrrrrrrrrr..." the strange animal made an odd rumbling noise, before walking toward the window, and rubbing against the door in affection.

Uranium was attempting to look at the creature through the window, but the animal was now too close to the door to be seen properly. "Hey! I can't see you now! Where'd ya go?"

The cat walked away from the door, and mewed again!

"There you are! Don't move around so much!"

"Mmmrrph!"

"Yeah! I'm talking to YOU!"

The Cat Eye's gemstone suddenly activated with a brilliant glow! A point laser jetted out from the precious gemstone and appeared on the floor! "MEOW!" The cat jumped toward its own laser in a flurry of excitement! "Mer! MERF-OW! RRRRRAAA!" Every time the animal moved its eye, the cat would pounce in a different direction!

Uranium watched the new Gem in amusement...silently rooting for the playful cat!

Cat Eye blinked, and the laser suddenly disappeared! "Mrrrrph?!" the cat looked around in absolute confusion! "MEOOW?!"

...

It seemed the prey had been scared off again. "Merf..." the cat lied on its stomach, and closed both eyes in pride! The Cat Eye began to purr again.

Uranium seemed slightly disappointed that the show was over, but smiled for the first time in a long time, as the cat fell asleep on the floor of the hallway.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks again to writer: The_Lampman for helping me Beta! Huzzah!


	22. Empathy

Grape seemed worried. "Do you think Cat Eye is REALLY the best choice for Uranium?"

Betty, who was sitting in Grape's hair again, nodded in agreement. "Sure she is! She's gentle, playful, and can't say anything offensive...or really...anything AT ALL! It's perfect! She was created to help lonely and secluded Gems become happy. That Cat Eye was MADE for Gems like Uranium!"

Grape nodded. Betty did make a LOT of sense. Couldn't argue with the facts here...

The elevator suddenly stopped on Level Two. As much as Grape hated to share her new found friend, she knew EXACTLY who Betty would be PERFECT for! Grape exited the elevator, and tapped her shoe in a specific rhythm on the floor. Steel felt the vibrations, and scuttled off into the hallway of Level Two as well.

To Betty's surprise, Grape carefully removed her from her hair. "HEY! HEY! WHAT ARE YOU DOING?! HEY!"

"Betty...you have to help out too...there's someone I want you to meet!" Grape proceeded to knock on Amber's door. The yellow Gem ran to the window- blanket stuck on her neck again, as happy as could be!

"OH! OH! GRAPE! I haven't seen you in SO long! I'm glad you're alright!"

The Pearl laughed! "I'm fine! Just super busy! I brought someone over for you to meet! Amber, this is Betty! She's a Glass "Cat Eye" Marble!" Grape proceeded to place Betty on the outside of the windowsill.

"OHMYGOSH! She's soooo cute! I've never seen a Gem like her before!"

"(Hemph..."cute"...)" Betty mumbled while folding her arms in annoyance, before shouting: "HEY AMBER! YOU HAVE A BLANKET STUCK TO YOUR NECK!"

"Hmm?! Huh? OH FOR THE LOVE OF-" Amber immediately had a wrestling match with the bedding, before successfully making it re-stick to the bed frame. She then proceeded to return to the window, blushing horribly. "Sorry about that...it happens more often than you would think..."

Betty looked over the Gem in amusement. "You must be very sticky..."

The Amber laughed a bit. "Welp! Can't disagree with you there! That's why I'm stuck in here!"

"No kidding! At least you can't get stepped on in there..."

The duo began to banter. The conversation started awkwardly, but soon evolved into gossip!

Grape smiled, and nodded in satisfaction, before walking toward Ice's room.

"Knock...knock..." The Pearl tapped on the window, before a familiar chair was propped up against the wall. Ice climbed up, and proceeded to smile at Grape with glee! She was holding her plush again.

Grape smiled back, before retrieving a piece of paper from her gemstone. She held it up against the window. On the paper were many sentences in Gemmish, and correlating dashes underneath. The Pearl inquired: "Can you read the sentences Ice?"

The small Gem squinted at the paper for several seconds, before displaying a thumbs up!

"Oh good!" The Pearl nodded in relief before informing Ice what the dashes on the paper meant. "See? This looong dash here represents a longer knock, and these small dashes here, mean that you have to knock really fast four times..."

\----------------

After explaining the paper to little Ice, Grape decided to give her idea a whirl. "...So you understand the whole paper now?"

Ice nodded.

"Awesome!...now Ice, I'm going to introduce you to someone new! She may look a little scary, but she's really nice! You can use this paper to talk to her...ok?"

Ice hesitated in uncertainty, before nodding again, slightly fearful.

Grape yanked some tape out of her gemstone, and stuck the cheat sheet to Ice's window. "OK. Hang on a second..."

The Pearl tapped her foot against the floor. Steel scuttled over to Grape, and put one of her scythes gently on the Pearl's shoe in conformation.

Ice gasped in fear, before hiding underneath the windowsill. Several moments passed, before the little Gem re-gained enough courage to glance- just barely, over the wall again.

in the meantime, Grape had guided Steel to Ice's window, and helped the Gem place one of her scythe-like arms to the wall.

Ice tilted her head in confusion.

Grape attempted to coax Ice into a conversation. "This is Steel! A Gem from the floor below! Go on Ice! Tell her your name by tapping on the window!"

Ice squinted at the cheat sheet again before attempting to communicate. "Tap-tap Tap. Tap, tap. Tap-tap-tap..."

Steel jumped slightly in surprise at the vibrations! Cautiously, the larger Gem began to respond: "Tap-tappity. Tap, tap?"

Ice glanced at the cheat sheet again to check the translation, before thinking of a way to answer... "Tap-Tap. Tap, tap. Tappity."

Overwhelmed, Steel looked more excited than Grape had ever seen! She quickly tapped a message back to Ice- nearly jumping in glee!

\----------------

As the duo's conversation evolved, the cheat sheet was completely ignored. Ice had obviously added the new skill to her permanent memory files. The two were now "speaking" to each other SO fast, that Grape couldn't even keep up! It was like Ice and Steel were talking in a completely different language entirely! In addition, Steel was no longer using sequences that were written on the cheat sheet. Ice seemed to be asking questions about how to "tap" more advanced sentences of the language!

Grape decided to check in with some of the other residents that needed company in the meantime. She joined Plastic and Rock Candy onto various floors making regular rounds...

\----------------

Everything was working out wonderfully, and much better than expected!

...and then the Pearl's plan hit an unexpected snag.

As the day became late, Grape rode the elevator back up to Uranium's floor to retrieve Cat Eye. Not only was the Pearl met with hostility from Uranium, but the radioactive Gem immediately started having another attack when Grape picked up the cat, and began to carry the creature toward the elevator.

In a massive panic, Grape put the cat back on the floor, and desperately began to sing an original tune of her own, in hopes of calming Uranium down. Cat Eye mewed in concern, before running toward the Gem's door, howling in fear as she desperately scratched upon it.

Uranium finally calmed down again, and collapsed with exhaustion before falling asleep. Cat Eye lied down as close to Uranium as she could from the outside, and refused to move.

Grape attempted picking up the cat-like Gem, and ended up getting hissed at!

The Pearl sighed in defeat, and figured the cat could sleep here. She may have LOOKED like an organic, but she was technically still a Gem. In theory, she did not need sleep, food, or...anything really...

Grape gave up, and re-entered the elevator. If Cat Eye wanted to stay with Uranium, well...than...Cat Eye COULD stay with Uranium! Grape supposed that letting the cat sleep here for ONE night couldn't hurt...

\----------------

The Pearl descended back down to the second floor. Ice and Steel were still making quite a din, and tapping at each other a million times a minute! Grape approached the duo, and tapped a simple message into the floor using her shoe. "Time for rest! The day is through!"

Steel turned around with interest, and tapped something back to the Pearl. It was a message that was not on the translation sheet. Grape approached Steel, and repeated her previous message into the floor.

Steel ended up crossing her scythe arms, creating a massive "X". Grape huffed in annoyance. "Come on Steel...you can come back tomorrow..." The Pearl walked behind the massive Gem, and attempted to shove her toward the elevator. The unexpected gesture, made Steel jump slightly, before she ended up lying down on the floor, and curling herself up into a spiky cocoon- tucking her head and legs underneath. Grape sighed with frustration, before approaching Ice, and promising her that she would bring Steel back tomorrow, if they could all go to sleep now. After a moment's hesitation, Ice nodded, and tapped something to Steel. The Gem uncurled herself before tapping something back, and following the Pearl's footsteps to the elevator with a bit of disappointment.

Grape also grabbed Betty as she walked by Amber's room. She was lucky...it had become SO late that both Gems-Amber and Betty, had already fallen asleep. Grape was glad that she managed to nab Betty before the little Marble had fallen off the windowsill.

Indeed, the plan was working spectacularly!

...if not without a couple of hiccups...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! Toonfreak here again! I just wanted to let you know that author: The_Lampman has begun posting up all of their documents referring to Peanut Butter Court! The fic is titled: "PB Court Experiment Files" go and check it out!
> 
> Also, the next chapter is going to be SO FUN to write! Why? Heh...heh...heh....you'll just have to wait and see.....  
> >:)


	23. A Mistake

It seemed that Grape's brilliant idea had worked wonders for Peanut Butter Court!

While things were not back to normality JUST yet, all of the Gems were much more happy, less bored, and had an increased amount of stamina like never before!

Grape decided it would be beneficial to show off the resident's progress to Analog- especially because she felt so guilty about unintentionally getting the friendly Peridot in trouble with Peanut Butter.

\----------------

"This is fascinating!" Analog was using her screen to record Ice and Steel communicating through vibrations in the wall. “This could be the start of an alternative language for Gemkind! It also seems that one can successfully communicate with Steel, as well as Ice being MUCH more intelligent than the Homeworld Gems originally predicted!" Analog smiled to Grape with pride, before continuing: "...Not that I ever doubted Ice's intelligence of course...sometimes those snooty Homeworld Gems have NO CLUE what they are trying to shatter..."

Grape piped up: "So...do you think Ice and Steel have a chance? To enter regular Gem society...I mean?" The Pearl seemed hopeful.

"Errrrm...NO. Not a chance."

Grape's expression displayed disappointment. "-and WHY NOT?!"

"Ice still has to stay in a controlled temperature to stay alive...and Steel...well...not only does she scare other Gems quite easily, but all of Homeworld would have to adopt this new language in order to understand her."

"Oh." Grape seemed quite upset at this news.

"WAH! B-BUT THERE'S ALWAYS HOPE! YOU NEVER KNOW WHAT THE FUTURE MIGHT BRING!" The Peridot quickly attempted to cheer up her friend!

"Mmmph...well, at least they are protected, safe, and happy here. That’s all I would ever want for any Gem..."

"Yeah. YEAH! Who says the regular courts are that great anyway?! WAAAAY too many snoots and rules over there anyhow!"

Grape nodded.

"Speaking of Homeword and snoots, I must report this new finding to Yellow Diamond! I'm sure she would be interested in alternative languages and code- if (for no other reason), to send classified files to our troops!" The Peridot stopped her video recording, and smiled at Grape with glee!

The Pearl shrugged. "Who knows? Maybe Yellow Diamond will see that not all "defective" Gems should be labeled as "defective" to begin with..."

Analog nodded before walking back toward the elevator in order to return to her lab. There was so much information to add to the classified files as well! Who knew that putting two completely different Gems in the same room would produce something so useful and unique!

\----------------

"Peridot 114112157 reporting in!" Analog displayed a Diamond symbol in pride as she contacted Yellow Diamond. She had already passed clearance with the Yellow Pearl, and was trying her best to look brave toward her leader.

Yellow Diamond lifted her lip in disgust. "Oh...only NUMBERS. You're one of THOSE Peridots. (Sigh)...what do YOU want?" The leader casually continued with her own work while listening to the green Gem.

"My Diamond! Several of our subjects are displaying amazing feats of intelligence!" Analog sent Yellow Diamond the video file she had recorded. "As you can see here- this mute Ice subject is successfully communicating with this Steel experiment- a Gem previously thought to not be able to communicate at all!"

Yellow Diamond looked at the film in disgust. "WHAT is that...MONSTROSITY doing out of its cell?"

"It's cell?" Analog looked at the recording with disappointment. She felt like her Diamond was completely missing the point of the video. "Erm...we have found that the Gems thrive with social interaction! That would include interaction with other subjects my Diamond."

Incredibly enraged, the Diamond stared at the Peridot in anger. She looked very disrespected by the Peridot's brazen attitude. "...and WHAT, may I ask, does your Agate think of this?!"

"Oh! She's very open to the idea! She's an excellent Agate! Always working very hard to appease you!"

"Put her on."

"M-my Diamond?"

"Put her on!"

"...on?"

"YES! PUT HER ON THE DIAMOND LINE! I wish to speak with her!"

"Ulp...Erm...Uh...I think she is busy...right now..."

"FOR STARS SAKE YOU CLOD! PUT HER ON!"

"YEEEP! R-right away my Diamond!"

Analog desperately looked around the lab in a panic! She spotted the life-sized, pink, plastic Agate statue...

As Yellow Diamond watched from her end of the screen, she could hear a loud, dragging, sound. Yellow stared at the camera in bafflement, as an (obviously) fake Agate statue appeared on the screen. Just to add insult to injury, the ugly statue began to rock back and forth as a horrific fake Agate impression rang from below the camera: "Erm...HeLLo mY GLorIOUs, bEaUTIfuL DiAMoND! I Am aN agATE! WoORbLE!"

Enraged beyond all belief, the Diamond began to scream in a rage! "HOW DARE YOU?! WHAT IS THIS...DESPICABLE DISPLAY?! HOW DUMB DO I THINK I AM PERIDOT?! THAT'S OBVIOUSLY YOU CONTROLLING AN UGLY AGATE STATUE! WHERE IS YOUR REAL AGATE?!"

"Uhhhh...WHaT ArE yOU saYinG? oF COURSE i'M a rEaL aGATe! WOoRbLe!"

At this point, Yellow Diamond was SO angry, she simply hung up the call in a huff.

"Oh stars..." Analog looked at the dark screen wondering with fear, what sort of wrath she had just put upon the court...

\----------------

For a few days, it seemed that the Peridot had dodged the bullet. There were no calls, no reports to Peanut Butter, no forms, no paperwork.

...and then, on the tenth day, all Hell broke loose.

\----------------

The morning started normally enough. Grape was collecting all of the Level One Gems for their normal rounds.

"Alright Steel! Out ya go!" Grape opened the Gem's door and tapped her foot in greeting. At first, everything seemed completely fine, but then Steel suddenly looked up toward the main hall.

"Steel? Steel! Hey! This way buddy!" Grape tapped her foot on the ground again. Steel slowly placed one of her scythe arms on the Pearl's shoe, as if silencing her friend. The metallic Gem than put her head on the ground- she could feel something...something...familiar...in the far distance...headed this way...

"WHT IS RONG ST33L?" Plastic inquired.

The metal Gem suddenly seemed to take an aggressive stance. Steel lowered her head in anger, and (somehow) managed to shake the scythes sticking out of her back violently- not unlike a rattlesnake.

Grape seemed surprised! She had NEVER seen (or read about) this behavior before. "What...is she doing?!"

Salt's eyes got big! "She's...she's warning us...she did the exact same thing right before Dark Matter-..." Salt didn't finish her sentence, but DID retreat back into her room quickly, and hid under her bed covers.

\----------------

Meanwhile, a ship had arrived at the Peanut Butter docking bay. The hatch opened. From the purple vehicle, a new Gem appeared.

Her name was Purple Agate 181919914.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Double chapters today...for no reason! HUZZAH!!!  
> XD


	24. The Purple Agate

The new Purple Agate was annoyed. There were no Gems to greet her upon arrival- no Pearls to open doors, no Amethyst guards, no Diamonds.

The woman huffed, before walking toward (what she assumed to be) the correct direction.

\----------------

Faux was wandering about the main hallways...backwards of course!

The new Agate spotted her. "OH! A PEARL! Pearl! Pearl! Do come here!"

Curious, Faux walked toward the Agate backwards. The Pearl turned around, and was met with a most horrific gasp!

"M-MY STARS! WHA-WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU?! YOUR...YOUR SKIN IS...PEELING!?"

Faux blushed horribly with embarrassment, before simply stating: "...ti pleh t'nac I-I"

"What did you say?"

".ti pleh t'nac I"

"EH?! What is WRONG with your speech Pearl? ...and where is your owner?! Shale! I've only been here for three minutes, and already-violations! Violations everywhere! STARS! No wonder Yellow Diamond sent me!"

"?wolleY"

"HRMPH. Worthless Pearl...must be defective. I'll find my OWN way...and please do something about THIS-" The Agate beckoned toward Faux's entire self "-skin shedding problem. It's making a mess, and is quite disgusting!"

The Agate walked toward the commons area, leaving the poor Faux shocked, and on the brink of tears.

\----------------

Steel's back scythes shook more violently as the threat became closer. Grape could see something walking toward the group in the distance. She squinted. It...it was...

"An Agate? A Purple Agate!" The Pearl yelled to the others in surprise! A Purple Agate! What was SHE doing here? Grape had never met an Agate before...but if her internal programming was functioning properly, her instincts were telling her that this woman should be associated with fear. "(Betty...Betty...hide in my hair...quickly now...)" Grape mumbled as she put the little Marble on her head.

"You don't have to ask ME twice!" Betty went into hiding in a hurry! Unlike Grape, the small Gem HAD seen an Agate's wrath and had absolutely NO problem hiding over facing such a violent conflict.

Grape was at the head of the commons area. Thus, she was the first Gem to be seen by the Agate. Salt had already shut her door in fear. Plastic and Rock Candy quickly followed Salt's example. Grape picked up Cat Eye from the floor whom hissed at the approaching Gem in aggression! Steel, meanwhile, seemed frozen. She continued to shake her back scythes in warning as the Agate quickly approached the Purple Pearl.

"PEARL! DO COME HERE!" the woman barked- and Grape obeyed the best she could.

The massive rattling sound caught the Agate's attention. Steel barreled forward in aggression! Tapping the floor violently, and making quite a ruckus in the process!

"STEEL NO!" Grape desperately stood between the two Gems in desperation!

"A-A-A MONSTER! STARS! THIS PLACE IS LIKE A HORROR SHOW!" The Agate quickly pulled an electric whip out of the gemstone on her chest while side stepping the Pearl. The woman flung the weapon toward Steel in aggression! The whip hit the metallic Gem's side- resulting in a massive scar, and the most eerie noise Grape had ever heard! It was almost like claws on a chalkboard! Steel was rubbing her back scythes together in the most horrific of manners- attempting to scare the Agate away from her Pearl friend! Grape held her ears with pain, before the whip was thrown again- resulting in Steel poofing, and her gemstone clattering to the ground!

"MERCY!" The Agate picked up the gemstone with pride! "You should thank me Pearl! This monstrosity was going to attack! Shall I...dispose of it?"

"N-N-No...this one has a room..."

The Agate handed the (now very traumatized) Grape her friend back. There was a pregnant pause. "Well don't just STAND there like a CLOD! Put that disgusting thing back in its place before it attacks again!"

Grape entered Steel's room quickly, and placed the gemstone on her bed, before closing the door with sadness.

It was only now that the Agate noticed Grape holding Cat Eye. The woman stared at the feline in disgust, as the cat hissed in aggression again. "What...is...THAT?"

"Cat Eye."

"Excuse me?"

"Her name is Cat Eye. She's a Gem. See her eye?"

"WELL OF COURSE I CAN SEE THAT SHE'S A GEM! The question is, why the Stars are you holding her Pearl? Why is this...defective Gem not in a cell like the others?!"

"There is no more space available in this court to house the Cat Eye Mam! She came to us as an extra Gem of interest!"

The Agate huffed with annoyance. "An easily fixable problem. Put her down Pearl."

Grape reluctantly obeyed, and placed the cat on the floor. The feline began to run into the distance to find a decent hiding spot, but didn't get terribly far. The Agate snapped her whip again, and proceeded to fling the weapon toward the cat! Cat Eye let out a pathetic, sad: "MEW!" as the rope wrapped around the animal and dissipated her form in a puff of smoke. Both Grape (and Betty) winced in discomfort. The Agate bubbled the gemstone and handed the item back to the Pearl. "There we are! Can't bother anyone anymore! Place this bubble into your pocket space until a room becomes available- PEARL."

Grape quickly obeyed the command with disgust.

"I SAY! I saw another defective Pearl roaming the halls when I entered! Perhaps we should capture her as well? She was making the most horrendous mess with her skin flakes..."

"I...don't think that will be necessary. She does not pose any threat." The LAST thing Grape wanted to see was any more of her friends being attacked by this...MONSTER.

"HMPH- You aren't off color too...ARE you Pearl?" The Agate looked over Grape in suspicion.

"Off color?" The Pearl didn't really understand the term. She had only heard it one other time- from the Marble statue.

"HA! I guess NOT! It's nice to see a normal Gem walking around...even if it is JUST- A PEARL."

The way the Agate said her Gem type annoyed Grape for some reason.

"Hmm...I only received minimal information on this mysterious Court before being sent here. Yellow Diamond informed me that this is a classified court dealing with..."experiments"? HA! It looks like I got here just in time! All these rogue "off colors" were running around freely...what a disgrace! What a safety hazard! You can thank me later Pearl!"

Tilting on the brink of rage, Grape simply nodded in agreement.

"Good! Good! Now! I must go straight to the Peridot's lab! Yellow's orders!" The Agate began to walk blissfully in the wrong direction.

"Erm...uh...Agate? You're going the wrong way..."

The Gem turned to Grape, and gave her glare that was filled with death and anger. "I KNOW where I'm going, PEARL. It would be wise to keep your yap shut in the presence of an upper crust!"

"-but-"

"Do keep up Pearl! I'll need you to open any door we might come across!"

Grumbling under her breath, Grape followed the Agate into the complete wrong direction.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks again to The_Lampman for the Beta help! This chapter was a slight challenge to write...I hope it came out OK!


	25. An Intelligence Test

Grape and the Agate had been walking in various hallways for HOURS.

The Pearl spotted a familiar pile of cables. It seemed that they had somehow ended up in the abandoned part of the building again. The taller Gem was most annoying. She was barking for Grape to open EVERY SINGLE DOOR they came across, only to be disappointed and curse every time the room offered nothing but walls and a floor.

The Purple Pearl desperately wanted to give the snooty Gem an "I told you so." comment, but did not want her form to disintegrate- plus, the Agate's increasing irritability was rather amusing.

"THIS...THIS...FRACKING COURT! STARS! WHY ISN'T ANYTHING LABLED?! WHERE IS THE ORGANIZATION? THE SIGNS?"

Grape said nothing in response. She knew the question was rhetorical, and rather NOT be punished over a witty quip.

The Pearl was immediately grateful that Betty was so small and unnoticeable. She could hear the Gem breathing heavily. It seemed her friend had fallen into a deep sleep from the sheer boredom of the situation. Grape noted some of the hidden cameras around the halls, and suddenly recalled the fact that Peanut Butter was probably watching the duo right now. The Pearl imagined the Diamond laughing her ass off at the ridiculous situation...certainly Faux had informed the leader of the unwanted guest by NOW?

————————

Many more hours passed. To Grape, it seemed like an eternity.

For every unrewarding twist and turn made in the massive maze, the Agate's shouting and cursing became even more vile!

"STARS! FRACK! SHALE!"

The Pearl finally decided to say something. "Um...miss Agate? Mam? Would you like me to lead?"

The tall Gem turned toward the servant in a fit of rage! "How dare you? HOW DARE YOU ASK SUCH A TABOO QUESTION! YOU...YOU...IDIOTIC PEARL! Of COURSE you cannot lead! It is highly unorthodox, and against all regulations! STARS! Maybe you ARE defective like all the other Gems in this FRACKING court after all! Now HUSH UP!"

Grape clamped her mouth closed quickly. Couldn't say she hadn't tried...

As the two continued their walk to nowhere, The Pearl wondered if the security cameras had intercoms. Perhaps Peanut Butter could speak to them, and guide them out of the horrific maze verbally?

No such luck.

————————

Another eternity passed. At this point, the Pearl was simply going through the motions. She was just mindlessly opening doors, and closing them again. The entire scenario was becoming most intolerable.

...and then, they turned the corner and found themselves in the shipping dock room again!

"OH! I KNOW WHERE WE ARE NOW! This is where I entered! Do keep up Pearl!" The Agate followed her own footsteps, and finally, FINALLY, reached the common area once more.

Grape sighed in relief. "(Thank the Stars...)" Perhaps the Agate would now, FINALLY swallow her pride, and let the Pearl lead?

NOPE.

"HA! I told you I knew the way! See that you IDIOTIC Pearl?! I was right, ALLLLL along! Now than, I will successfully lead us to the Peridot's Lab! You MORONIC Pearl! This is why you should ALWAYS listen to your upper crusts! This is also why you should appreciate-"

Grape never did learn what she was supposed to "appreciate". The Pearl noted that the Agate was slowly walking in the wrong direction again...heading straight toward the same horrific maze they had just spent goodness-knows-how-long attempting to escape. Grape silently thanked whatever idiot made the rule that Pearls were only allowed to FOLLOW more important Gems, and NEVER lead. She had stopped walking behind the Agate entirely, and just let the aggressive Gem continue to talk to herself.

It seemed that the Agate's ego was SO huge, that she just continued to boast to nothingness. There was no way in the cosmos Grape was going to follow this buffoon back into the abyss that was the maze of space station catacombs.

It would be another hour before the woman would realize that the Pearl had not followed her. The Purple Agate would end up lost once more.

————————

In the meantime, Grape decided to do the LOGICAL thing, and walked straight toward the Peridot's Laboratory. Analog answered the door to the lone Pearl, and seemed quite surprised that no one was accompanying her. The Peridot was already quite aware of the unpleasant Agate, and immediately questioned why the Pearl had arrived by herself.

————————

...

After a VERY LOOOOOONG conversation, Analog was laughing like there was no tomorrow! "So...so...she just kept walking, and ended up in the "maze" again?"

Grape nodded.

"...and she didn't even realize you were gone?!"

"Nope!"

"Stars! She's going to end up stuck in there for an eternity! What a stubborn CLOD!"

"I was wondering if one of you Peridots could wait for her in the commons. This event will just keep repeating itself otherwise..."

"I really rather NOT. Agates are most unpleasant..."

"I noticed. Might as well get all the yelling and abuse over with all at once though...I can almost guarantee to you that she will probably be even more peeved when she figures out how to find this place again."

Analog moaned, knowing Grape's statement was the truth. "UGG...what a bother! As if us Peridots didn't already have enough things to worry about!" Analog attempted to think of an alternative solution. "OH! What if we made some signs just leading to the lab from the commons? You won't have to face her wrath again, and us Peridots will be able to meet her head on as a group! Not much she can do if she sees all of us at the same time!"

Grape thought about this, and nodded in agreement. This plan made the most sense, and saved the Agate from swallowing her pride.

————————

Several days passed before the Agate found her way into the commons again. At this point, the woman seemed flustered, exhausted, and more angry than ever! She cursed the Purple Pearl under her breath, as if this entire fiasco was Grape's fault to begin with.

Fortunately, by this point, the Peridots had placed their paper signs in the commons. All of them were clearly labeled, and included arrows to prevent the moronic Agate from getting lost again. The woman mumbled more obscenities under her breath, before stubbornly following the signs to her original destination...


	26. Fate

The Agate knocked on the Lab door in the most aggressive manner!

She was tired.

She was angry.

She was incredibly pissed off.

"WHAM! WHAM! WHAM!"

"OPEN UP YOU SHALE-HEADED CLODS! I KNOW YOU'RE IN THERE!"

Analog opened the door as pleasantly and calmly as possible. "OH! Hello! You must be the Agate we've heard so much about!"

"DON'T BE A SMART ASS! I'VE BEEN THROUGH HELL AND BACK TO GET HERE! LET ME IN!"

"Be my guest!" The Peridot welcomed the Agate and beckoned her through the doorframe.

The Agate did just that! She "huffed" and "herumphed" her way through. Pushing Analog aggressively to the side!

"...!" The Agate gasped in horror at the surprising sight in front of her! There were definitely Peridots in here...yes! At least 80 of them (if not more). The group was staring at the bully in a huddle, with the most amused look on their faces!

They were Peridots! Certainly...

Some had two heads or four arms. Some had extra eyes smooshed against their regular ones. Some were stuck together by the head or waste. Some had toes growing out of their faces.

The Agate gaped in absolute shock! "WHA-WHAT THE FRACK IS THIS?!"

While purposely wiggling the extra foot on her back, Analog trotted by the Purple Gem before answering her inquiry- "Why, this is your NEW TEAM your clarity! You were assigned to help run our kindergarten...yes? Well...HERE WE ARE! So...Purple Agate...what do you want us to do first?"

"UH...GUH...BUH...ER...EH?" The Agate stood, absolutely speechless.

"Whatever's the matter Agate?! You look like you've just seen a shattering!" Analog was enjoying this awkward situation WAAAY too much.

The Purple Agate suddenly went incredibly pale. All the color drained from her face. The woman began to feel dizzy- and proceeded to pass out immediately onto the hard, cold, floor.

\----------------

When the Agate woke up from her shock, she found herself in a new place-a MASSIVE dark room!

"S-Stars...what happened?!" The Agate held her head in pain. It was obvious she had bruised it against something during her fall. "W-What a horrific nightmare! A court made entirely out of monsters..."

"HMMM...MONSTERS YOU SAY?" A sudden booming voice echoed from the room's shadows.

The Agate turned in a panic at the massive voice! "WHO'S THERE?! WHO ARE YOU?!"

"Show some respect Agate! I am your new Diamond!"

"Oh my Stars!" The Agate rose to her feet (slightly dizzy and awkwardly), before holding up a Diamond symbol toward the source of the noise. "I-I'm so sorry my radiant Diamond! I have no clue how I even ended up in your chambers! I think I might have suffered a shock..."

"YES...my Peridots brought you here."

"Your-Your Peridots my Diamond?"

"Indeed."

There was a pregnant pause, as the Agate thought about her situation. "I think...I might be seeing things my Diamond! When I entered the Kindergarten area ALL of the Peridots looked...off color..."

There was another pause, before Peanut Butter answered: "We do NOT use such offensive slurs here."

"Oh! I apologize your radiance! They looked...erm... defective?"

"...that word is also forbidden-AGATE." It seemed the Diamond was getting angrier by the minute! The purple Gem wisely decided that this would be a good time to hush. The Diamond continued: "I do not know how you have been trained to act in other Homeworld courts...but HERE, in MY court, it would be wise to learn a bit of empathy."

"My Diamond?"

"I have watched you from our security cameras...and have been most displeased with your irrational behavior. You poofed two of my Gems, insulted and verbally abused BOTH of my Pearls, and proceeded to call my entire court "monsters". It is...incredibly disappointing, and inexcusable."

The Agate seemed baffled as she realized that everything she had witnessed was NOT a nightmare- but rather, an incredibly disturbing truth. This court...was ENTIRELY made up of flawed Gems!

Peanut Butter finally stepped into the light. The Agate nearly screamed in shock at her new master's form! The leader continued: "It IS rather interesting. You have been calling all of my friends "monsters"...and yet, YOU are the only "monster" I've seen recently in my court!"

"Wha-what? Are you? Are you really a...Diamond?"

The giant's eyes squinted in a rage. "I AM Peanut Butter Diamond...and I am more of a leader than any you have known before! I do have TWO questions for you-AGATE- ONE: What is your full name? and TWO: Who sent you here?"

"Oh! Um...Purple Agate 181919914!" The Gem attempted to stand up straight!

"...Raisin. An appropriate name. Wrinkled and disliked."

The Agate blushed horribly.

"...and whom sent you?"

"Erp...erm...Yellow Diamond."

"I see..." at this point in the conversation, Peanut Butter turned to her hollo-screen, and decided to do something she had not done in a VERY LOOONG time. She was going to call her sister directly.

The line rang for several beats, before Yellow Pearl answered the call: "This is the Yellow Diamo-OH MY STARS! WHAT IS THAT?!" It was obvious this particular Yellow Pearl had never seen Peanut Butter Diamond before- nor was she expecting such a strange sight after answering the phone.

Peanut Butter glared at the Pearl with the upmost annoyance. She heard her sister behind the Pearl: "PEARL! That is NOT the way we answer the Diamond line! What the Stars has gotten into you?!"

"B-But my Diamond...I don't know this Gem...she looks-"

At this point, Yellow Diamond saw who the caller was, and quickly snagged the phone away from her servant. "(Peanut Butter...)" The woman gritted her teeth while mumbling "(Why are you using the Diamond line?!)"

"Because, I am a Diamond." Peanut Butter nodded as if this was the most obvious answer to the dumbest question in the world.

"(Well, what do you want?!)"

At this point, Peanut Butter picked up the Purple Agate by the scruff. The small Purple Gem let out a yelp of terror, before the Diamond displayed the tiny Gem to the screen. "I believe THIS is yours?"

Yellow said nothing.

"Why did you send me an Agate Yellow? You know our first priority in my court right now is replacing the Pearls. I have no use for an Agate!"

"(I saw you didn't have one, so I sent that one to you as a...gift.)"

"HA! Such a "useful" gift! She has been nothing but a inconsiderate brat since she got here!"

"(Peanut Butter...)" The massive leader gritted her teeth before continuing: "(...your court NEEDS order!)"

"What My Court NEEDS is caretakers and kindness! This...AGATE, is the exact opposite of BOTH of those things!"

"(Well! I'm sorry if my gift has displeased you so! Unfortunately, there are no returns. So if you send that Agate back here, she WILL be shattered!)"

-and with that, Yellow Diamond hung up the line. Peanut Butter was speechless. She stared at the (now incredibly terrified) Agate with annoyance. "Well that's...just...GREAT! Looks like I'm STUCK with you now!"

The Diamond placed the Agate back on the floor, and grunted in annoyance. Her sister, Yellow, was a conniving clod. She knew Peanut Butter would not send a Gem back if it meant being shattered. Her sister had used her own empathy against her- a VILE trick!

"MPH..." Peanut Butter stared at the Agate-wondering what the stars to do with the annoying burden. She decided to give the Agate a choice. "Alright- listen up RAISIN, and listen good! I'm only going to give you THREE choices! I can either: poof you and place you in a bubble with storage, OR you may live in solitude in the abandoned part of the building, OR you can make a decent Gem of yourself, and become the caregiver as an honorary Pearl! Know this though...I NEVER want to SEE or HEAR of you verbally or physically assaulting my court again! IS...THAT...CLEAR?!"

The Agate whimpered in response!

"Good. Now than...RAISIN! Choose your fate!"


	27. Border

Grape and Faux had been asked to return to their chambers while Peanut Butter had a chat with the new Purple Agate. Betty had also been returned to her bed. The three Gems were gossiping!

"What do you think she's going to do to her?" Grape seemed concerned.

"Maybe she'll poof her...just like she did to Cat Eye! You know...in revenge?" Betty seemed to be a fan of justice through karma!

"...eltneg etiuq s'ehs...raf that gniog reh ees t'nac I" Faux shook her head.

"Well, whatever happens, we should support her decision!" Grape nodded.

As if on que, the door to the Pearl's Chamber opened. The three friends looked to the doorframe, before all of their hearts stopped.

Standing in the light, was the massive, terrifying, silhouette of a Purple Agate.

The room became uncomfortably quiet. As the Agate walked inside, it was obvious that...SOMETHING had happened. The woman had peanut paste smeared all over the back of her collar and hair. She had (somehow) also come into possession of white, fluffy, slippers. The pair of slippers were on her feet, slipped over her boots. In addition, she had a massive bruise on her forehead. Overall, the woman looked like she had been to Hell and back with no rest.

The Agate walked all the way to the end of the row of beds- passing the accusing stares of the two Pearls and the Marble. She than immediately fell onto an undisturbed cot, and went into a deep sleep.

"!SRATS" Faux seemed shocked at the state of the Agate. She was unsure what had happened to the bully, but the fact that the woman had peanut paste in her hair meant that their Diamond had (in some form or another), forgiven the Gem.

Grape stood up in surprise! "Perhaps...we should let her rest..." Betty nodded in agreement. Grape picked up the little Marble before taking her leave from the room. In reality, the Pearl could care less whether or not the Agate was okay...she just felt disgusted being in the same room as the woman.

\----------------

As the Pearl walked back into the commons, she decided to check up on Steel. The poor Gem HAD been poofed after all, and she wanted to make sure her friend was okay. Grape placed Betty in her hair and briskly walked toward the metallic Gem's cell...

"WHAT IN THE-?!"

Upon arrival, Grape found the room in disarray! There were obvious tapping marks all over the place! Massive pieces of debris were on the floor! There was now a gargantuan hole going through the ceiling! It seemed there were also some snow flurries falling from above!

"WOAH. What happened here?" Betty seemed just as shocked as the Pearl. Grape quickly ran toward the elevator, just to see how far the damage extended...

\----------------

(Several days prior...)

As Steel reformed from her gemstone, she found herself on the bed in her room. At first, the odd Gem seemed confused. How had she gotten back in here?! Steel suddenly remembered she was trying to protect her Pearl friend from the Agate!

The Gem jumped off the bed, located the window, and began to violently tap messages on it in hopes the Pearl would hear it!

...

...No luck.

In a mad upset of desperation, the Gem began to tap wildly on every wall in the room, wishing to check in on her various friend's safety...

\----------------

Ice meanwhile, was playing with her soft plush on the floor of her room. The little Gem suddenly noted a strange tapping coming from down below! Curious, Ice waved her hands in the air, and managed to conjure up a fairly LARGE icicle. Despite the object's massive size, Ice was able to hold it easily. She wondered if, perhaps, her new friend Steel was directly down below.

If that WAS the case, she seemed to be sending out a distress signal!

\----------------

Steel jumped in surprise! After tapping on the ceiling, the creature had actually gotten a response! It seemed the Gem above her was pounding on the ground with a large force!

Enthusiastic, Steel tapped back on the ceiling!

\----------------

Meanwhile, up above, Ice slammed the massive icicle on the floor in a heavy rhythm!

...as it turns out, the two friends were neighbors! Ice's cell was directly above Steel's! The duo informed each other of the daily going ons, before coming up with a brilliant plan!

Steel began to chip away at the ceiling from down below, while Ice madly began to burrow a hole through the floor using her massive icicle!

The result ended up being the large amount of destruction Grape had just witnessed.

\----------------

Back in present day, the Pearl rode the elevator to level two in a huff! When she arrived at Ice's cell, she could see that the little Gem had fallen asleep from exhaustion on her bed while hugging her odd plush. There was a MASSIVE hole in the floor, and (sure enough) Steel had settled on the ground, and was guarding Ice like some sort of gigantic dog.

"STEEL!" Grape shouted in surprise! "What did you DO?!"

The metallic Gem looked proud of herself, despite the massive amount of destruction.

"STARS! How on Homeworld am I going to fix THIS?! If I open either of your doors, all the cold air will rush out!" The Pearl was obviously not amused from the situation. She would have to speak with Peanut Butter to come up with a solution...

\----------------

After dictating the odd story to her Diamond, the woman bellowed with laughter!

"It's not funny! How am I supposed to give Steel her exercise NOW?!"

"Oh, do calm down Grape! It seems that you have created a strong friendship between the two! There aren't Bismuths here, but my Peridots can fix up the rooms easily!"

"Good grief...what a fiasco!" Grape was exhausted. The last week and a half had just been one surprise after another...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks again to The_Lampman for helping me Beta this thing!
> 
> Soooo...I'm not going to lie. I've been suffering from a bit of writer's burnout as of late. (I guess that's what happens when you write almost a chapter of Fic everyday for...like...3 months. LOL!)
> 
> No worries! I'm still going to keep writing chapters in between my fatigue, and work on getting these up ASAP! I did have a question for you guys though!
> 
> I currently have quite a few basic character sketches for Grape, Steel, Plastic, and several other characters from this story. If you guys would like to see what they look like, give me a holler in the comments and I'll post them up on my Tumblr account (askthetoonfreak)!
> 
> Thanks again for your support guys!
> 
> XD
> 
> (Update: Boy...that was a fast response! Totally put those production sketches up on the Tumblr! YUS!!!)


	28. Teacher

Construction started on the two destroyed rooms immediately. It wasn't surprising that Analog decided to take the helms of the project. She saw how well Ice and Steel were getting along, and decided to make some...MINOR changes to the rooms accordingly.

The Peridot excitedly invited Grape to the grand re-opening once the construction was finished. "It was quite simple to modify both rooms! Steel and Ice did most of the work FOR me!" Analog nodded in pride.

Where the gargantuan hole once was, there was now a massive, transparent, temperature proof, touch-activated door!

Grape watched in fascination, as Steel thumped on the vertical door twice with her scythe arms. The ceiling shifted open automatically, and Steel scurried upward toward Ice's chamber, before the transparent door closed behind her- making for the perfect temperature controlled environment!

"Wow Analog! I've got to say...I'm VERY impressed!" The Pearl smiled.

"Bah! It was nothing! It will help me continue with my communication studies as well!" The Peridot nodded. "...Besides, if we had covered the ceiling back up, I get the feeling the two of them would have just made another hole..."

"Good point."

\----------------

Meanwhile, the Purple Agate was starting to recover from the "traumatizing" experience she had gone through... "Woe is me! Living the life of a disgusting Pearl servant! What a horrific fate!"

Faux rolled her eyes sarcastically at her new roommate. "...rehtorb hO"

"No! NO! You DISGUSTING, WRETCHED, PEARL! Not even your nonsensical, confusing, ramblings can cheer me up from this HORRIFIC nightmare!"

"OH COME ON!" Betty yelled from her own bedding.

The Agate looked up in surprise! "Who said that?!"

"I did you...you...ignoramus!"

Raisin leaned in and finally spotted Betty for the first time! "Good gracious! Why are you...SO...SMALL? What is your function?"

Betty looked appalled! "Why are YOU so UGLY? What's YOUR function?!"

"MY WORD! What a disposable little BRAT you are! I should shatter you into next week!" The Agate picked up Betty by the scruff as the little Gem attempted to throw punches and kick wildly in the air!

"Put me down you ENORMOUS GALOOT! Your fingers are so FAT, you're going to crush me, just by picking me up!"

"!HHHHHOOOOOOOOO" Faux cheered and jeered in amusement!

"YOU are NOT worth my time! NUISANCE!" Raisin put the teeny Gem on her bed again, before going back to feeling sorry for herself.

"PBBBBPH!" Betty stuck out her tongue and blew a raspberry.

It was about this time, when Grape returned to the room. "WELL! I'm glad to see the three of you are acting SO mature! HONESTLY! How many thousands of years old are you Faux?!"

The fake Pearl blushed sheepishly at the comment.

"Come along now Raisin! There is still a lot I have to teach you! Peanut Butter filled me in on the..."conditions" of your little "agreement". Grape clapped her hands together, hoping to stir enthusiasm! "Trust me when I say: being a Pearl is MUCH more rewarding than being an Agate! You're going to love it!" The Pearl forced a smile knowing that (in reality), this day was probably going to be Hell in a handbasket...

\----------------

Grape and Raisin walked into the commons area.

"OK! I guess the first thing you should know about Peanut Butter Court, is that only the Gems on the FIRST floor are allowed to leave their rooms."

The Agate groaned. "Do they HAVE to?"

"Only if the Gem in question feels like being sociable...don't force them. OH! On that note, you are no longer allowed to use your whip. It scares the patients!"

"...but I LIKE my whip...it gives me a sense of...POWER!" Raisin looked proud of herself!

"NO WHIP!" Grape seemed agitated, before calming herself again. "OK...let's start with something simple..." The Pearl approached Plastic's window, and knocked on it politely. Curious, Plastic existed her room, and proceeded to inquire. "WHT IS UP GR8?"

"Oh...you know just regular chores and such...I do have someone I would like for you to meet! Plastic, this is Raisin!" The Pearl beckoned toward the Agate.

Plastic inquired: "O! ANTHR P33RL?" The pink Gem immediately began to use her scanner to figure out what the new friend looked like. Several seconds later, the robot-like creature proceeded to jump in shock! "GR8! GR8! THAT IS NOT A P33RL! THAT IS AN AG8!" Plastic was suddenly very frightened, and began to shiver uncontrollably.

"Hey! Hey! It's ok Plastic! This is Raisin! Peanut Butter decided she would be the most helpful if I turned her into an "honorary Pearl"! I'm teaching her the ropes- like where everything is, and how to be more tactful..."

As if on cue, the Agate turned to the Pearl and whispered: "(Did that ugly robot thing just scan me?!)"

"Vooooooo..." Plastic drooped her head in shame- having overheard the entire quip.

Grape turned to her student, quite angry! "Raisin! That was not a nice thing to say to Plastic- AT ALL! Apologize!"

"Erm...ok...I'm sorry ugly robot thing...for making you...emotional?"

"VOOOOOOOO..." Plastic's confidence sunk even further!

"RAISIN!" Grape shouted!

"What?!"

"That had to be the WORST apology I have ever heard! STARS! Try again!"

The Agate decided to make the statement shorter and less accurate. "I'm sorry."

Grape smiled! "Better! See? That wasn't difficult at all! You just have to remember to have good bedside manner!" The Pearl looked toward Plastic before explaining: "Plastic here cannot see anything unless she scans her environment. She has no vision spheres, so scanning stuff is the only way she can see you!"

"OH." Raisin shrugged.

"Here's a helpful hint: before saying anything to anyone put yourself in their shoes!"

"In their shoes?"

"Yeah! Like...imagine what it would feel like if you were THEM!"

"I don't follow..."

Grape paused, thinking to herself before coming up with a solution. "Raisin, YOU'RE ugly!"

"WHAT?! NO I'M NOT! I AM THE GLORIOUS REFLECTION OF A PERFECT AGATE!"

"No...You're UGLY!"

"STOP SAYING THAT!"

"Ugg-leeeeee..."

"AGH! Why do you keep saying it?! I'm NOT ugly!" The Agate suddenly looked very downtrodden.

Grape nodded. "That comment didn't feel very good...did it?"

"STARS NO!"

"...well the way you're feeling right now, is the way you just made Plastic feel! You called her "ugly", and hurt her feelings."

"...OH! I see...kind of? H-how do I do the opposite of that?!"

"Find something to compliment! Like...say something nice- even if it is a small thing, it can make all the difference!"

"Hmmmm..." Raisin glanced at Plastic again. "Erm...your pink transparent hue is like a ...window?"

"Verr-Bop?" Plastic perked up from her sadness, and tilted her head in confusion. "THANK U AG8? THT M33NS...A LOT?"

Raisin attempted a smile, which looked more terrifying than anything else.

\----------------

The rest of the day was (understandably) equally as challenging.

Grape introduced Raisin to Amber!

The Agate tried her new skill! "My goodness! You're so...adhesive!"

"Erm...OK?!" Amber seemed incredibly confused. Grape rolled her eyes in embarrassment. At least Raisin was TRYING to compliment the other Gems...

\----------------

When introduced to Uranium, the Agate attempted to compliment the Gem on her "Tall spiky hair".

"Your hair looks like some alien flora I saw once!"

"What did you say about my hair?! You got some problem with my STYLE Agate?!"

"WHAT?! NO! Your hair is...adequate."

"Adequate? ADEQUATE?! My hair is AWESOME, ya OLD BAG!"

"WHO ARE YOU CALLING AN OLD BAG?!"

The two immediately proceeded to engage in a screaming competition! Thinking quick on her feet, Grape released Cat Eye's Gem from her own gemstone, and allowed the black cat to regenerate!

In a flash of light, the animal reappeared! "MROW!" The feline bounded with excitement!

Uranium interrupted the argument, and perked up immediately! "There you are you stupid thing! I've been worried about ya!"

While Raisin seemed somewhat appalled, Uranium couldn't help but smile as her friend was returned to her!

Grape shrugged, before explaining: "Cat Eye makes her happy!"

"What an...ODD...erm...friendship?" Grape could tell that the Agate was attempting to hold her tongue at the prospect of yet ANOTHER strange Gem running about unsupervised.

Grape re-entered the elevator. "Just go with it. Look how happy they are!"

Raisin glanced at the odd scene, as Uranium laughed in glee! The cat was rolling about on the floor playfully!

"This is Cat Eye's normal spot. You don't even have to really worry about checking on them...they keep each other company constantly!"

"I see..." Raisin nodded...one less thing to worry about.

\----------------

As the two Gems descended to the first floor again, Grape continued to give out notes on all the residents: their powers, hobbies, original purpose, and things they disliked were all included in the conversation.

By the end of the day, the Agate looked completely overwhelmed! This entire lifestyle change was new, strange, and confusing.

Grape smiled. "I know, it's a LOT to take in..."

"There's just...SO MUCH to remember..." Raisin seemed baffled by the way this place worked.

"You'll get used to it." Grape nodded in hope. At least some progress was being made...

\----------------

Alas, training of the Agate continued. Some of the residents were incredibly sour about the situation, others simply did not care what-so-ever. Talking to a snob was much more entertaining than not talking to anyone at all...

The court eventually settled into a rhythm, everything was falling back into place...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OK! A HUGE thanks to The_Lampman for the Beta work on the next three chapters! I ended up splicing a LOT of stuff together, and doing some major re-writes for the dialogue on this one! (I think it flows much better now...indeed!)
> 
> If anyone is curious: NO I have not seen the new leaked SU episodes. The major reason for my recent absence was an attempt to avoid spoilers!
> 
> (So...PLEASE NO spoils in the comment section and such!)
> 
> On the brighter side of things, my short hiatus ALSO meant I had time to write the roughs for the next FOUR chapters of Peanut Butter! Soooo...yeah! Lots of stuff on this story is waiting to be edited and (pretty much) rearing to go! Huzzah!
> 
> Also, did you guys enjoy the production art I put up on Tumblr? I know it was only a few "rough" sketches...but I hope it made someone's day!


	29. Blackout

Salt found herself becoming more brave. She was less frightened of coming out of her room, and took the liberty to explore the space station's catacombs. The little Gem still seemed incredibly scared around others. Salt figured if she stayed far enough away from another living soul, NO one would have to suffer her unfortunate curse.

...and then the day arrived.

\----------------

Salt found one of the space station's long stairways. The little Gem seemed unnaturally enthusiastic about this find! Typically, she could only locate elevators! But THIS! This MAGNIFICENT staircase, was a lovely feat of engineering! It was obvious that the Buismuths that built it did a FINE job! The staircase resembled a round fractal when staring down through the top. It seemed to go on forever!

"Wow..." Salt looked down the magnificent structure with stars in her eyes. She decided, then-and-there, she was going to try it out!

The Gem took her first step down the descending staircase...

...and immediately tripped over her own feet!

The next few seconds were a horrific blur! Salt screamed in surprise as she fell...fell...down...further and further. Each individual stair she smacked into resulted in massive crumbles of salt flying all over the place!

About six floors down, the rapid smacking of the Gem against the "forever staircase" finally resulted in Salt's form dissipating. With a mighty: "POOF!", the gemstone fell, and finally sat stationary on the stairs. It would take a bit of time for Salt to regenerate. Her body was made up of SO MANY tiny pieces, that it normally took her an extra two weeks just to reappear.

\----------------

Meanwhile, on the outside of the space station, a medium-sized asteroid's movement suddenly bounced off some space junk. It seemed, fate had sensed that a MASSIVE amount of salt had been spilled somewhere nearby, and thus, the asteroid's travels should be recalibrated accordingly to balance out the universe.

The rock went toward Peanut Butter's space station at an incredible speed, and proceeded to jam itself into a rather important looking exposed bunch of wires.

...all of the power in the space station immediately went dead.

\----------------

"BWOOOOOOooooooo..."

The ominous sound of the lost power rang out as all the lights on the inside of the space station disappeared.

"What the stars?!" Grape had been doing her rounds with Betty in her hair again. "Betty! What just happened?!"

"It seems, we have lost power...entirely."

"I can't see a thing! Betty, do you have a flashlight installed into your Gemstone?"

"NOPE."

"Well, this is just...PERFECT. What should we do?!"

Betty shrugged.

As the two stood in the pitch blackness of space, a voice suddenly appeared on the right.

"GR8?! IZ THT U?"

The sudden noise made the Pearl jump! "Oh! STARS! It's just you Plastic! You gave me a fright!"

"SORRY GR8. I JUST WANTED 2 LET U NO, THE TEMPERATURE S33MS 2 B ACTING ODD..."

"I'm not surprised...the power just went out."

"R33LY?" Plastic obviously had no clue that the lights were out.

Grape supposed everything looked the same to her friend...whether it was scanned in the dark OR the light...the Pearl suddenly had a brilliant idea! "Plastic! Can you turn on your scanner? We could use it as a flashlight!"

The Gem said nothing, but the flat, red, light of the scanner suddenly lit up a bit of the floor!

"Thank you Plastic! Is there a protocol for these sort of emergencies?"

"U SHOULD GATHER THE LVL 1 GEMS. P NUT BUTTER WILL NO WHAT 2 DO..."

The Pearl nodded, before the trio set out to locate their friends.

\----------------

Rock Candy was in her room, so was the Marble sculpture. Salt had disappeared entirely...which made Grape incredibly nervous.

"OOOF!" Grape walked into someone!

"?uoy That sI ?eparG"

"OH! Faux! Hey guys! I found Faux!"

"!YLETAIDEMMI srebmahc s'dnomaiD ruo otin enoyreve rethag ot deen uoy ,eparG"

"I can't understand you Faux..."

The fake Pearl sighed. "Doom mood."

"What?"

Faux tried again: "Evil, a sin, is alive!"

"HUH?!"

Betty piped up: "I think she's trying to tell us that it's not safe out here..."

"!ytteB uoy knahT !SEY" Faux nodded in agreement!

Thus, the small group of Gems followed Faux into Peanut Butter's Chambers. The massive set of doors had been forced open- probably by Peanut Butter herself as indicated by the paste covering the entrance.

Grape could hear her Diamond's relieved sigh echoing through the chamber. "Thank the Stars. Is everyone ok?"

"For the time being. Salt and Steel weren't in their rooms...and I was unable to find Raisin or check the upper-level Gems..."

"Hmmmm...well, the GOOD news is that the Peridots have already started repairing the power!" Peanut Butter clapped her hands.

"...and the BAD news?" Grape inquired.

"Mrrrrrrmph..." The Diamond seemed...upset and concerned. She attempted to calm herself before continuing: "The BAD news is that all Gems in temperature controlled rooms are at risk- both to themselves and to others."

"How do you mean my Diamond?"

\----------------

Steel had been in Ice's room before the power went out. In a panic, the little Gem "tapped" a message to her friend: "All the lights went out! I'm scared Steel!"

Steel proceeded to get as close to her friend as possible, in order to give Ice a sense of security.

...

Several minutes passed, before Ice began to breath heavily. She tapped another note to her metal friend: "Steel...I...I don't feel so good. It's getting warmer..."

in a sudden state of panic, Steel got up quickly, and began to search the room for slush, ice, cold patches, and frost. The metal Gem used her scythe arms to quickly chip away the melting blocks of ice into a massive pile! She then relocated her sick friend, and coaxed her toward the pile. Ice buried herself within the ice and snow, and was quite surprised when Steel managed to create a fairly large-sized bubble around her friend. The intelligent Steel had (basically) created her own cooler.

The metallic Gem immediately attempted to find the floor door. Since the power was out, the door would have to be forced open manually. A more open space might make the area much less stuffy. Steel found the door, and began to madly dig at the thing with a jolt of adrenaline!

\----------------

Raisin was currently on level four, absolutely terrified. The cell in front of her held another metallic Gem- Mercury. Until this point, the cell was kept well below a freezing temperature. Every time Raisin had passed the room, the Gem was basically non responsive, and kind of looked like a modern piece of art. NOW that the temperature was warming up, however, the Gem began to puddle! The puddle was contorting its form into various weapons, and attempting to break the cell's window!

It seemed Mercury's weapon of choice was a spiked ball flail!

The Agate desperately pressed on the elevator's unresponsive buttons in terror, as the caged Mercury continued to attempt escape from its own room!

\----------------

Carbon Dioxide screamed in pain, as her form began to smoke and disintegrate wildly, in the most horrific of panoramas!

\----------------

Uranium's rod would not cool down! The Gem coughed and wheezed in discomfort! Cat Eye howled in fear, as she madly scratched on Uranium's door! Perhaps if her friend knew she was there, the rod would cool off as it always did...

\----------------

The court was suffering and hanging on by strings!


	30. The Request

After Peanut Butter had fully explained the severity of the issue, Grape's eyes became wide with shock! "We...we can't just SIT here! Our friends are in danger!"

Peanut Butter sighed. "I'm afraid there's not much we CAN do. You have already seen the unfinished part of the space station, correct?"

"Yes! Yes of course!"

"...well, about half way through building this place, the other Diamonds felt their money could be utilized better elsewhere...specifically on war-based machines, and other things for Pink Diamond's Court. This space station was never fully finished. If it HAD been, a back-up emergency generator to specifically help the temperature-sensitive Gems would have been installed." Peanut Butter seemed extremely upset.

Grape fumed in anger! "So WHAT are we supposed to do then?! Just sit here and hope for the best?! Wait until our friends...just...melt away?!"

"Unfortunately, yes. There was no money in the budget for an emergency staircase to the various levels, an emergency safety house for temperature-sensitive Gems, NOR an offline alert system."

"Those all seem like...INCREDIBLY IMPORTANT things! What in the Stars did they use the money for instead?!"

"I heard Pink wanted to make a zoo for human captives. Her decision took priority over mine even though I begged and pleaded..."

"OF ALL THE FRACKING, USELESS..."

"CALM YOURSELF GRAPE!" The leader's booming voice echoed through the chamber! "THERE IS LITERALLY NOTHING WE CAN DO! Even if we were to force the cells open, there are no places on the space station cool enough to make our friends comfortable! In fact, if they stay in their cells, that would be the BEST chance of survival. The rooms were designed to keep the cold air inside..." The Diamond began to weep. She sounded heartbroken, and incredibly upset.

"So, you're telling me, we house almost 80 unique Gems here...and NONE of them can help us?!"

The Diamond thought long and hard about this question. She searched her personal memory banks for something...ANYTHING that could be helpful..."OH! Gold!"

"Gold?"

"Yes...YES! I think Gold could help! She's on level two though...and the elevator would be down..." With a sudden twinkle in her eye, the Diamond stared at the Gems below. "Yes...one would have to be strong-" the leader looked toward Plastic. "-fast...-"she glared at Rock Candy "-...calm...and intelligent! They would have to know exact layout of the court." She glanced at Grape and Faux. "Hmmmmm...I DO hope you can all forgive me. I'm going to ask something rather taboo..."

"What is it my Diamond?"

"You four will have to...erm...fuse together.

"FUSION?!"

"Indeed."

The four Gems gasped in shock! Rock Candy piped up: "ISN'T...ISN'TFUSINGWITHDIFFERENTGEMTYPESILLEGALMYDIAMOND?!"

"Yes. Very."

Grape couldn't believe a regal Diamond was even suggesting such a thing! Grape had NO CLUE how to fuse, and had considerable doubts that her friends had ever tried it either. It's not like Homeworld was swarming with Fake Pearls and Rock Candy. Only Gems of the same type were allowed to fuse, and even THAN fusion was only allowed during EXTREME circumstances!

The Gems looked toward each other nervously. It was obvious that NO ONE wanted to participate in this rescue mission...

On the other hand, their friends...this was a choice between engaging in illegal activity for several minutes, or letting all their friends die. An ultimate dilemma!

"Hmmm..." Grape contemplated to herself, before a particular Gem came to mind: the adorably small Ice! "Y-You guys...Ice." The other Gems hit a realization with horror on their faces. The fact that the adorable little friend was probably suffering made the whole room feel guilty.

"I...I WILL TRI MY B3ST...MY DIAMOND." Plastic nodded.

"YEAH!FORICE!" Rock Candy agreed!

Faux said nothing. She was looking rather nervous.

"Soooooo...how do we do this, exactly?" Grape had no clue how fusion worked...let alone with 3 other Gem types...

"MAYBEWEJUSTRUNTOWARDEACHOTHER,ANDJUMP?" Rock Candy quipped with excitement!

"Worth a shot..." Grape backed up, as well as Faux, Plastic, and Rock Candy. The four of them ran forward at top speed and jumped at the same time...

"WHAM!" The group of friends hit each other before toppling to the ground.

".wO" Faux had bumped her head during the fiasco.

"W3LL THT DIDN'T WORK..." Plastic felt dizzy.

"Maybe we should try something a bit more simple...like...I don't know...holding hands?" Grape suggested this as an alternative, and no one complained. The four held hands in a circle, and listened to Grape's intrusion: "Now, let's all try to visualize saving ICE, and how much trouble her and all of our other friends are in. The group nodded in agreement and concentrated super hard!

...

There was an immediate bright light that overcame the group of friends! Peanut Butter gasped in surprise! The light fluctuated, as the four gemstones swam within its bright cloud! A new something began to form as the creature attempted to make itself more stable...

Finally, the light subsided. Where the four Gems once stood, there was now only a MASSIVE singular being! She was almost as tall as Peanut Butter!

The Gem in question certainly looked...interesting. She had three sets of eyes, a screen on her face, and a triangular nose like a Pearl. Her hair was puffy, yet pointed. It seemed that Plastic's robotic ears had stayed intact, and grown significantly larger. She had hot pink and blue splotches all over her. All of Faux's pieces of partially shedded skin had turned solid and spiky-almost like glowing, transparent, plastic triangles stationed on her shoulders like armor. The woman had a Purple sash tied around her waist, and two mouths.

Needless to say she wasn't the most beautiful fusion ever recorded, but she was significantly stronger looking than her components. The monster looked at her self, and giggled in glee! Peanut Butter figured that must have been Rock Candy. It sounded like her laugh.

"What is your name new fusion?" The Diamond asked with curiosity.

"!MUG3LBBUBSI3MANIM...EMANIM" The fusion's first mouth attempted to speak. The mixture of strange backwards linguistics, and super speed made the creature's speech completely illegible.

The second mouth spoke up. Peanut Butter noted that it sounded a bit more like Grape. "Perhaps I should take this question guys...our name...our name is Bubblegum." The fusion nodded in satisfaction!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> THREE chapters in ONE day!?!?
> 
> (The Toonfreak shrugs)
> 
> Meh...why not?
> 
> ^_^


	31. Bubblegum

"Bubblegum?" Peanut Butter's eyes had stars in them!

"VERR! WOOP!" The fusion nodded. The leader noted that the particular sound sounded like plastic again. It was quite amazing! Peanut Butter had never seen a fusion before...and CERTAINLY not a mixed fusion between Gems that resided in her own court! She could immediately see why the rest of the Diamonds had made the activity illegal...NOT because the fusion was grotesque as the rumors said, but because the mixture of powers and size could probably overpower ANY Diamond easily! Stars! Someone could start a commotion with a being like this!

Peanut Butter was overwhelmed with pride, but shook the feeling off quickly. Time was precious right now. "Alright: here's the plan! You have to get Gold out of her cell WITHOUT TOUCHING HER. You must bubble her, and only let her out when she approaches a temperature-sensitive Gem. Inform her that I gave you direct orders to do this. Faux, you must alert Bubblegum where EVERY temperature-sensitive Gem's cell is...can you do that?"

"!dnomaiD ym esruoc fO" Bubblegum nodded.

"Good, good. Rock Candy, use that speed to your advantage! Plastic, you are the muscle! Do not be afraid to rip chunks of the space station into shrapnel...lives are at stake here!"

"VOOP!"

"Grape use your voice to explain, and keep everyone calm! Now go my wonderful friends! I wish for you only the very best!"

Bubblegum nodded again, before zooming out of the Diamond's chambers, and rushing toward the outside wall of the Gem's cells in a heartbeat! While most Diamonds would find the taboo activity most disgusting, Peanut Butter was simply fascinated that all Gems had the power to do things this spectacular...to help save lives...and yet, were constantly being repressed.

"What a waste that Homeworld does not allow such beings to exist and help others...fewer Gems would have to be made if they would just let them fuse and be more efficient like this..."

\----------------

Bubblegum ran toward the cells, and with a mighty jump, latched herself onto the side of the wall. The massive fusion caused the entire space station to tremble in the process!

A giant red scanner began to x-ray all of the rooms quickly. Faux alerted the beast where she had seen Gold!

With a mighty "GRUNCH!" noise, Bubblegum ripped out a section of the wall! Gold turned around in a fright, before screaming in terror!

Faux quickly alerted Grape some necessary information about Gold. The fake Pearl found it SO MUCH EASIER to tell Grape things using a shared mind, than saying them aloud.

The fusion nodded to herself before bubbling Gold, and picking the little Gem up in her massive hand. The little Gem looked beautiful and delicate-similar in size and shape to a Sapphire. Her entire body was a brilliant sheen of golden beauty-the hair, the lovely dress, even the bow that was tied into her hair was a wonderful golden color! The only thing that seemed a bit out of place, were the two massive golden cooking mitts that were currently on her hands. The fusion attempted to explain: "Hello Gold. My name is Bubblegum. Peanut Butter sent me!"

"P-Peanut B-Butter?" The tiny Gem seemed confused. She had never seen this monstrous Gem before. "Who...who are you?"

Bubblegum smiled! "You already know us Gold! Look closely!"

The little Gem squinted, before noticing the massive robotic ears. "P-Plastic?!"

Bubblegum chuckled! "Well, you're 1/4th correct!"

Gold gaped in shock! "You...You FUSED?!"

"Diamond's orders." Bubblegum nodded.

The little Gem thought about this situation logically. "Why does she need me?!"

"!slliks ruoy deen eW !elbuort ni era smeG evitisnes-erutarepmet ehT"

"Ah...Faux is in there too! Can anyone explain the plan to me in forwards please?"

There was a pregnant pause, as Faux internally explained to Grape what had to be done. "OH! I see!" Bubblegum nodded! "We need you to touch all of the temperature sensitive Gems to save them from melting in the power outage!"

"Oh! That makes A LOT more sense!" Gold nodded! "I will help you guys and the rest of our friends happily!...just...don't drop me...okay?" Gold gulped and looked down in nervousness at the hundreds of feet below her. The fusion nodded, and quickly began to get to work!

\----------------

The job went fast. Bubblegum scanned the wall, used Faux's knowledge to punch holes in the correct places, and gently let Gold down into the corresponding room before popping the bubble that surrounded her. As it turned out, the massive golden oven mitts were on the little Gem's hands for a GOOD reason. Every time she touched anything with her bare hands-the object would instantly turn to gold! If she touched the item twice, the object would change back into its original state!

Grape understood the plan immediately! If the Gems were turned into golden sculptures, there would be no risk of melting! It was a way to save everyone until the power returned!

Bubblegum watched in intrigue, as Gold touched the screaming Carbon Dioxide, and eased her pain by transforming her into a statue. She nodded in agreement, before walking back toward the fusion. She was bubbled again, before beginning the process anew.

\----------------

Raisin was lucky. Mercury had almost busted through the window, seconds before Gold turned the metallic puddle into a statue. Needless to say, the poor Agate screamed twice as hard when seeing the massive, horrific, fusion! She proceeded to pass out in the most dramatic way possible! No time to check on her health now...the plan took priority. They would check on their friend later...

\----------------

Uranium was in BAD shape when they found her. She had been gasping for air for quite some time. Gold touched the poor Gem, and gave her a small blessing to stay safe, before Bubblegum lifted her once more.

\----------------

Surprisingly, Ice was one of the temperature-sensitive Gems in the BEST condition! Steel had done the right thing by creating her friend a cooler bubble, and digging for more space and ice. Gold noted that little Ice was SO comfortable, and calm, that she had fallen asleep in the homemade bubble! Still, Gold turned the bubble into a sculpture just to make sure her friend would survive the fiasco.

\----------------

After all was said and done, both Gold and Bubblegum looked completely exhausted! The fusion jumped to the floor and put the small Gem down, before her form began to fluctuate, and completely fell apart! Faux, Rock Candy, Plastic, and Grape seemed to be incredibly stunned! They had kept the fusion's form stable by sheer willpower alone!

"GOODNESS..." Grape ached so much that she couldn't move. "That was...intense..."

The other Gems nodded. They couldn't move either.

A slow clap emerged from the darkness...it was Peanut Butter! "THAT...WAS...AWESOME!" The Diamond's eyes were shining like...well...diamonds! The gargantuan leader looked like a little kid that had just walked out of the most awesome Godzilla film of all time! "You all did splendidly! I believe you saved everyone...just like a super hero!" The Diamond clapped some more!

"UGH..." the group of Gems were happy that their Diamond was pleased...but they NEVER wanted do that again...way too exhausting.

"Thank the Stars...everyone is safe..." Grape closed her eyes in relief, before dozing off in fatigue.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Time for some new Gem information!! WHOO!!
> 
>  
> 
> Gold - Gold was commissioned by a regal, incredibly wealthy Gem who found out about Peanut Butter Court through illegal means. The Gem insisted that Gold should be made for her, in exchange for her silence on the blackmail and intel of the secretive court.  
> Thus, Gold was created, and her power was abused horribly by the regal Gem. One night, the little Gold accidentally touched her master while defending herself...turning her own owner into gold! The Diamonds insisted to the terrified Gem that this was a perfectly reasonable compromise, before returning Gold to Peanut Butter's court. It is said, that Gold's original owner is now used as a central display for one of Homeworld's water fountains.
> 
>  
> 
> Carbon Dioxide - Also known as "Dry Ice", Carbon Dioxide was created to give Gem armies cover using her own mist while being exposed to normal temperatures. Unfortunately, the process (as well as the Gem) were considered unsuccessful, due to the fact that Carbon Dioxide would scream in pain every time her form began to dissipate- immediately giving away the army's position. She is now a permanent resident in Peanut Butter's Court. and must stay in a cell that's cool enough to sustain her form. If she is exposed to warm temperatures, her body begins to mist and melt.
> 
>  
> 
> Mercury - Originally created as a Gem that could use her odd liquid state to fit through small spaces and cracks- Mercury's main purpose was to infiltrate enemy bases, and violently slaughter soldiers in war by contorting her body into various weapons of choice. Unfortunately, when you are basically just a metallic puddle- it can be very difficult to differentiate enemies, from friends, from walls, from animals, from windows! Mercury is kept frozen most of the time, because she is programed to attack.  
> ...and to Mercury, that translates into: "Attack ALL the things, in EVERY direction!"
> 
>  
> 
> ....also, new SU episodes tonight!! FINALLY! My spoiler hiatus shall end!!! WHOOOO!!!


	32. Presents

As it turned out, the Diamond's witty plan payed off handsomely! It took an entire TWO WEEKS for the Peridots to restore the space station's power- a length of time that would have guaranteed death to all the temperature-sensitive Gems.

Many lives had been saved. Analog made it a habit to thank everyone from floor one while passing them in the dark halls. Unlike the others, Analog DID have a flashlight in her gemstone, and was easy to spot from afar.

\----------------

Finally, the day came when all the lights returned! All the unfrozen Gems cheered in unison! Who would think that something as simple as artificial lighting and air conditioning could be missed SO much?!

...unfortunately, the lights also revealed a massive amount of destruction. A good half of the cells had been completely destroyed by Bubblegum. It would take MONTHS to fix the place, and thus, MONTHS for many of the Gems to be unfrozen by Gold.

No one seemed more affected by this than Cat Eye and Steel. The small kitten would spend hours of the night howling in sadness...despite receiving lots of pets, toys, and attention.

Steel's situation was even more pathetic. The Gem would roll the solidified golden bubble about on the floor, in hopes of talking to her friend again.

\----------------

"Stars...that's so sad..." Grape watched as Steel tapped on the golden bubble in a specific pattern-indicating grief.

Betty was sitting in Grape's hair again. "Whelp, she's sad, we should do something to cheer her up...right?"

"Indeed. Did you have anything in mind?"

"What about that catalog you lent me? There were ALL sorts of neat stuff in there!"

Grape sighed. "We don't even have enough money to afford back-up generators in case the power goes out again! What makes you think we have ANY cash for frivolous things?!"

Betty gave out a sigh: "I don't know...didn't you tell me that the other Pearls used to use the catalog all the time? Analog told you that...right?"

The quip made Grape angry, but also brought up a very good point! How WERE the Pearls of the past able to afford things like stuffed animals anyway? It was time for some research!

\----------------

Grape decided to ask Faux directly. She pointed at the catalog and questioned the fake Pearl on past transactions.

Faux thought for a second before attempting to answer Grape's question the best she could... "Tray's simple help, missy art!"

"No, no...Faux...not the palindromes AGAIN...they never make ANY sense!"

"Must sell at tallest sum?"

"NO FAUX."

The Fake Pearl looked about trying to find something to help explain...

Faux ended up picking up one of Plastic's miniature sculptures that was lying next to her bed, and also found an old golden-colored sign from a previous Gem that had lived in the court from long ago. She tapped the two together, before nodding!

"Erm...uh...gold? Sculptures?"

Faux nodded more violently in excitement! She recalled something, and opened up her digital files. The Pearl proceeded to show Grape a website with automatic intergalactic shipping. The site was filled with pictures of miniature, golden sculptures for sale! The assortment included various pieces featuring cute pets, buildings, and plants found around the cosmos!

Apparently, Plastic and Gold had collaborated before on their artwork...selling the sculptures for a small profit.

"HUH...how come we aren't using this technique to fund the rest of the space station?"

Faux shrugged. Grape figured the sculptures were either being sold too cheaply, or too slowly to make any sort of dent in the space station problem. She sighed. "I...I see...they only make enough money to spend on trinkets..."

Faux nodded.

"WELP! That answers THAT question!" Grape stood tall! "I feel kind of weird using someone else's money for this...but if they sell them specifically for "fun money", then "fun" stuff" they shall receive!"

\----------------

Just to double check her facts, Grape approached Peanut Butter Diamond to receive her permission and blessing!

The Diamond nodded. "Yes...It has been a stressful couple of weeks...hasn't it? No power, all the destruction...I'd say we're well overdue for a gift giving session!" The Diamond disclosed the amount of money they had in the special account. Grape was pleasantly surprised! "A-Are you sure we shouldn't be using this money to fix the space station?"

"NOPE! The money we receive from the golden statues is completely useless here on Homeworld! This particular type of cash can only be used on other planets. This is a "fun money" account! Go nuts!" The Diamond smiled.

\----------------

Thus, both Betty and Grape began looking through the special catalog for surprise gifts! The Pearl seemed happy to engage in a leisurely activity (for once), but had NO CLUE what to get for all 80-something Gems! She wished she had more intel on their likes and hobbies rather than just their original function...

Faux mindlessly walked into the Pearl's Chambers to put something away. Unexpectedly, Grape approached her with enthusiasm! "Hey Faux! You know everyone in the court pretty well...right?"

The Fake Pearl nodded.

"-Well, would you like to help us find gifts for all the residents? We're trying to lighten the mood around here!"

"Yeah!" Betty nodded in agreement!

Faux seemed baffled! There were WAY too many Gems here to search individually without overwhelming herself! The Pearl thought, and nodded that she would help!

Grape whooped prematurely, as Faux immediately exited the room after agreeing.

"OH..." Grape seemed disappointed.

"BAH! She was just messing with us...I guess...come on Grape let's get back to it!" Betty nodded, and the Pearl followed suit.

\----------------

Several hours later, Grape received a rare email from another Gem! She normally only got the occasional spam, but this piece of mail seemed to actually be from a living Gem!...NOT just a robonoid.

Grape opened the massive email with curiosity.

...It seemed to be encrypted. Not a word of it made a lick of sense. The Pearl stared at the odd thing, before coming to a realization... "It's written...backwards!"

Betty chuckled. "Let me see it...I'll have it translated in no time!"

\----------------

"No time" later, Betty had translated the document successfully! "See? No problem at all! Check out what Faux sent us!"

Grape leaned in and gasped in happiness! It was a full list, of all 80-something Gem residents...and included all of their interests and hobbies!

"Oh wow!" Grape had stars in her eyes! "This is awesome! Faux, you're the BEST!"

Betty smiled! "We'll have to thank her later! That was awfully nice of her to type the whole thing..."

"Let's get started!" Grape flipped through the catalog enthusiastically!

\----------------

"Huh...I had no clue Uranium enjoyed knitting. Wouldn't the yarn disintegrate from the heat?" Grape was highly confused how someone with such a temper could enjoy an activity that required so much patience.

"Yeah...well...it says here that Steel likes tennis balls...what the frack is a tennis?!" Betty was equally confused.

"Hmph...well, at least we have a better idea of our friend's hobbies now..."

"I still think what she wrote about me is kinda...broad..." Betty dictated her own entry: ""Glass "Cat Eye" Marble"- enjoys looking at the catalog.""

Grape laughed! "Well...she's not WRONG...you ARE looking at the catalog!"

"Well...YEAH...but I like other stuff too! She just wrote that down because it's the only activity she's seen me try...outside of conversations of course!"

"...of COURSE." Grape nodded, and rolled her eyes.

\----------------

Thusly, gifts were ordered accordingly. It would take several weeks for such a large shipment to arrive. Grape figured the wait would be worth the trouble.

The items were delivered about two weeks later, via remote control space truck. Four massive wooden crates were dropped off, before the rocket-powered truck quickly took its leave.

Grape and Betty had been waiting for the packages in the docking bay room.

...

As Grape inspected the large crates, she suddenly realized that there was NO WAY she would be able to carry all of this stuff on her own. The Pearl figured she should make her pocket space useful, and began to stuff the massive amounts of gifts into her gemstone.

The Gems of the court would be so surprised!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> SOOOOOOOO..... how about those two new Steven Universe episodes, eh? Goodness gracious!!!
> 
> Thanks to The_Lampman for Betaing again!
> 
> Also, I would love to get some suggestions from you guys...the readers! What gifts do YOU think the various Gems of Peanut Butter Court would enjoy?  
> ^_^  
> Let me know in the comments!


	33. The Gift of Giving

As Betty and Grape returned to the commons area, they both had excited smiles on their faces! The duo invited all the first floor Gems to gather in a group for a special treat!

"WHT IS GOING ON GR8?" Plastic asked with curiosity.

"YES!YES!DOSPEAKUP!" Rock Candy nodded.

The Pearl smirked with a devious smile! "Well...I know it's been kinda stressful around here and stuff...so I decided-"

"-WE GOT EVERYBODY PRESENTS!" Becky threw her arms up, and interrupted in excitement!

Geape glared at the little Gem sitting on her hair...Betty had ruined the surprise!

"-OH! Erm...sorry Grape. I couldn't help myself..." The Marble blushed.

"Humph...well...YES! We ordered gifts for everyone!" Grape clapped her hands-attempting to lighten the mood once more! There was an immediate excited bustle among the crowd!

\----------------

Thusly, the Gems lined up in front Grape with more enthusiasm than she had seen in WEEKS! As each Gem received their gift, Grape and Betty enjoyed watching every face brighten with joy! The presents just kept emerging...one by one...from Grape's gemstone!

"Alright! Alright! Let's see what else I've got in here..." Grape dug though her gemstone and produced a pink ball of yarn. "Ah! A gift for Cat Eye! Where is Cat Eye?"

The Cat was sulking in the corner of the room- staring at the wall in a depressed funk.

"OH!THERESHEIS!" Rock Candy zipped over to the other side of the room quickly, and with a shocked:  
"MEROW!"  
...grabbed the feline, and quickly dragged the unhappy animal over to Grape!

"MRRRRRR..." the cat growled and shook her tail with irritation.

The Pearl sweat in nervousness. "Erm...look Cat Eye! Yarn!" Grape tossed the item to the ground in hopes of improving the animal's mood.

"MOW?!" The cat's eyes suddenly dilated with intrigue as she looked down at the yarn! "MEROW!" Cat Eye jumped out of Rock Candy's arms, and began to bat and unravel the ball with enthusiasm! "MRR! MERF!"

Grape smiled. "OK! WHO'S NEXT?!"

\----------------

As the various Gems collected their perfect gifts, the atmosphere of the room lifted!

Faux was especially impressed with her present! Grape had found a special mechanical recorder. It was a bit...archaic...but it COULD record speech, play it backwards, erase conversations, and re-record sound. It also came with a nifty shoulder strap! The Pearl wore her new gift with pride!

"TRYITOUTFAUX!"

"Yeah!"

"See If it works!"

The crowd encouraged Faux to try her present! The Pearl chuckled! "!ykaO !ykaO" The Gem recorded some random speech and played it backwards: "Hello! Hello! Testing!"

"WOW!" The crowd gasped!

"HOLYSHALE!ITWORKS!" Rock Candy threw her arms up in the air!

As the mass of Gems cheered, Faux blushed a bit!

\----------------

Meanwhile, Steel was preoccupied! Grape had thrown her a single tennis ball (she had bought a pack of four). The Gem was (literally) having a ball! She playfully chased the item, tapped the floor to find it, and scooted it about once more!

"SHUNK!" Steel had made a mistake! She had stabbed one of her scythes into the tennis ball! Instead of moping about it though- she simply approached Grape, and tapped a message into the ground.

The Pearl nodded in understanding, before tossing the other three tennis balls toward Steel.

"SHUNK! SHUNK! SHUNK!" Steel stabbed the remainder of her exposed limbs into the rest of the tennis balls, before strutting about in pride! Her gift now had an alternative function: she was able to walk about...WITH traction! No more slipping!

Betty laughed! "WOW! Look at Steel go!". The tiny Marble watched with glee as the metallic Gem pranced about in pure bliss!

"HMMM..." Grape smiled at the festivities, but was also slightly upset. There was still quite a bulk of gifts in her gemstone's pocket space- reserved for the Gems that couldn't leave their rooms, or were still frozen as golden statues. The Pearl had even found a similar plushie to compliment Ice's toy-it looked identical...with the exception of it being twice as big, and wearing a hat!

Grape sighed, and excused herself from the festivities, before walking over to Peanut Butter's chambers. The door was still ajar from the storm incident. Grape knocked and invited herself in. "M-My Diamond? Did you want to join the fun? It's an absolute whoot! You should see Steel! She's practically skipping..."

Peanut Butter looked up from her holo-screen, and smiled at the Pearl...seemingly a bit downtrodden. "That's quite alright Grape! I don't know if you ever noticed before, but my own chamber is quite dim. My..form doesn't do very well in direct light...even if it's artificial! Plus, if I came out, my footprints would make an absolute mess of things! I would just cause more work for everyone else."

"Oh." Grape seemed disappointed. "...well...erm...if it's alright with YOU than...we actually got YOU a present too! It took a bit of extra work to order it...but I think you will like it..."

Peanut Butter seemed flattered! She was not expecting a gift! Taken aback slightly, the leader nodded as Grape produced a singular, metallic, tiny blue box with a red button from her gemstone. The Pearl pressed on the button, and placed the gift on the floor.

Peanut Butter gasped! "OH! OH GRAPE! It's...it's wonderful!" The massive leader began to cry...

The box was projecting a simply MASSIVE hologram! It included every Gem- Peridot, Pearl, or otherwise that had ever been a part of the Diamond's court!  
Grape piped up: "I had a LOT of help from the Kindergarten Peridots and Plastic! We had to send HUNDREDS of 3D images to a specialty company in order to get it made..."

"I...I...don't know what to say! It's...absolutely wonderful!" Peanut Butter wept in joy. "Oh...my luxorious Grape...thank you! Thank you..." The leader rubbed peanut butter in Grape's hair as the tiny Pearl stood among her deceased holographic sisters.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A special thanks goes out to all of my readers for the gift suggestions! (Also, thanks for being so patient too!)
> 
> This chapter was a struggle to write (lots of writer's block and real life crud getting in the way....foo...)  
> Hope you guys like it!  
> XD


	34. Escape

Construction on the space station continued smoothly. One by one, the building was pieced back together by the Peridots. One by one, Gold would touch the Gems before sealing off the room and returning the aliens to their former glory.

The day Ice was restored was a relief! Grape had placed the new plush gift into the room before it was completely fixed. Ice adored it (of course), but was also overwhelmed as her friend Steel entered the room, and nuzzled her with relief. The friends were (once again) together! Steel spent (pretty much) the entire following week guarding Ice like a massive dog again...just to make sure she was ok.

Uranium's revival was a bit more nail biting. When Gold transformed the Gem, the creature was still wheezing with discomfort. Cat Eye had been invited to the event, and mewed with encouragement for her friend! As the temperature in the cell slowly dropped, Uranium closed her eyes in relief, and eventually fell back asleep to heal.

The cat purred, and sat next to the cell (as she always did), knowing things were now alright.

\----------------

After all the cells were fixed and the Gems revised- there were only a few last minute repairs to make the space station look its best! The Peridots dangled from platforms and ropes- soldering, hammering, drilling, knocking, and making an (overall) huge din and ruckus to restore the space station to its former glory once more!

\----------------

...

...

...There was a loud knocking. It wouldn't stop. What an absolute annoyance! The din alone was making the entire space shake.

"KNOCK! KNOCK! KNOCK! VEEEEER! BOOM! BOOM!"

UGH. What a horrific fate! Having to listen to this MASSIVE circus of noise! The Gem thought this to herself-stationary...motionless...unable to reform.

"BOOM!"

The construction jostled the room ever-so-slightly, but that was all she needed. It was just enough!

The peanut butter-colored bubble gently tapped into the side of the cell, making the sphere burst!

Ahh! Freedom! Freedom at LAST! The black gemstone began to twirl and light up with anticipation! From the beautiful sight, formed a very odd creature. Black as night, the average-sized Gem almost resembled a shadow. Her color was abyss- as dark as the darkest void in the cosmos. Her gemstone was placed in the ODDEST of places too- the inside roof of her mouth to be precise!

The Gem stretched with comfort! It felt SO good being out of that bubble! Upon further inspection she seemed to be in a top security cell! The best money could buy!

"MMMPH...too easy." The Gem simply opened her mouth and distorted the cell. The metal, chains, glass, EVERYTHING warped and caved in. The prison eventually imploded- entering the Gem's mouth- never to be seen again. Where the cell once stood, there was nothing now- only a massive hole in the wall remained.

The Gem laughed! A grand snack! To bad she was always hungry...always needing to feed. Hunger was not common among Gems- except for this one. She was ALWAYS hungry- never satisfied.

The monster walked toward the elevator-feeling extremely vengeful and bitter. It was time to pay her old court a visit. It was time to talk to Peanut Butter. It was time...for revenge!

Dark Matter entered the elevator, and slowly waited for the device to descend. The creature was excited!

\----------------

Steel was sleeping next to Ice's bed, when the metallic Gem suddenly stirred! Ice had been playing with her two plushies, but interrupted her activity to look up at her friend with curiosity.

Steel stood up, lowered her head in defense, and began to shake the scythes on her back like a rattlesnake!

Ice seemed surprised! She had NEVER seen her friend do THIS before...she decided to "tap" a message using the floor: "What's wrong Steel?"

The larger Gem paused before slowly tapping a message in response: "D-a-r-k_M-a-t-t-e-r_H-a-s_E-s-c-a-p-e-d."

Ice gasped, and shivered in fear! Steel turned toward her friend, before covering Ice in bedsheets, plushies, and pillows. "S-t-a-y_H-i-d-d-e-n_M-u-s-t_W-a-r-n_O-t-h-e-r-s." Steel nodded before tapping on the automatic door, and scurrying back into her own room.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So....HERE we go! The FINAL arc of Peanut Butter Court! That last chapter was the only thing keeping me from writing this fic's conclusion...and BOY, OH BOY is it going to be a DOOZY!
> 
> XD
> 
> Dark Matter has escaped, and is none too pleased with the way she has been treated...


	35. Dark Matter

Steel entered her own room quickly, before acting COMPLETELY sporadic! She desperately tried to open the doorknob with her scythes, before tapping violently on her window, and finally: she attempted to break the entire door down by slamming into it- repeatedly and aggressively with her entire body!

The Gem was gaining new injuries every time she slammed against the door! If she ended up poofing because of her own recklessness...well...that was completely fine by her! This message was WAY too important! She had to convey it by ANY means necessary!

Needless to say, her plan worked.

Rock Candy noted the metal Gem's desperation first: "OHMYGOSH!STEEL!WHAT'SWRONG?!STOPHURTINGYOURSELF!" The Gem opened Steel's door quickly! The spider-looking Gem scuttled into the commons area-incredibly scuffed up and bruised. With every ounce of strength she had left, the Gem went into a defensive stance, and shook the scythes on her back as violently as she could...

Rock Candy's eyes became wide with fear, as Steel collapsed upon herself with exhaustion-her form poofed almost instantly. She had done it! The message had been delivered!

Rock Candy picked up Steel's gemstone in shock, before doing what she did best-run.

She zipped over to Peanut Butter's chamber first, shouting: "HELPMYDIAMOND!DARKMATTERHASESCAPED!"

...before quickly zooming to a new location. She told Grape next...followed by the Peridots...followed by EVERY Gem on the first floor. The entire thing took less than 45 seconds...perhaps a new record! The Gem huffed and puffed in exhaustion. While many of her friends only understood bits and pieces of Rock Candy's speech, they had ALL heard the name: "Dark Matter". That was all that was needed.

Unfortunately, it was about this time when the elevator reached the ground floor. The doors opened slowly- revealing the devious Gem! Rock Candy gasped in fright, as she turned and faced the monster: head on!

Dark Matter smiled maliciously- her yellow, pointed teeth shining in the artificial light. "Oh! Rock Candy! Hello! How are yo-"

"ZIIPPPP!" Rock Candy ran into the distance quickly-hiding herself and Steel's gemstone inside of the space station's deep, unfinished, catacombs.

"HMMPH! RUDE! Didn't even let me finish my sentence!" The Gem licked her chops in frustration, before continuing her journey to Peanut Butter's Chambers.

\----------------

Peanut Butter, meanwhile, had instructed Faux to run and hide in the unfinished catacombs as well!

"...DNOMAID YM...TUB...TUB"

"NOW FAUX! THAT'S A DIRECT ORDER!" The leader seemed unusually angry and cross!

"SQUEAK!" Faux let out a yelp of fear, before leaving the room quickly!

The Diamond nodded before mumbling and cursing to herself; "(Damn...this isn't good...)" Peanut Butter located her constantly shifting gemstone, and quickly yanked her massive weapon from the pocket space- a gigantic meat tenderizer. The cooking hammer, normally used for tenderizing meat- was large enough to crush even the most massive of enemies!

The only thing she could do at this point, was leave her chambers, face the terror head on, and save as much of her court as possible. As the gigantic Diamond made a rare appearance outside of her room, Dark Matter looked up at her in surprise!

"AH! Peanut Butter! Not hiding behind your Pearls today? A shame...there were not many Gems on the way over here. I was hoping to see some more familiar faces..."

"WHAT DO YOU WANT DARK MATTER?!"

"Mercy! So hostile! I just wanted to say "hello"! Are you not happy to see me?! I was your "pet project" for the longest time after all..."

"YOU...YOU DISTROYED EVERY PEARL! EVERY...SINGLE...ONE!"

"NOT true! I spared Faux! She WAS your favorite Pearl? Correct? The most important Pearl!"

Peanut Butter gritted her teeth. "HOW DID YOU ESCAPE?!"

Dark Matter shrugged. "Negligence. Your Peridots are not trained very well AT ALL. Their horrific construction and din broke my bubble."

The Diamond grunted with annoyance.

Dark Matter smiled. "I believe we should continue where we left off...YES? You were informing me what a horrific monster I was...how I was a mistake- created with the sheer purpose of only saving another...and I think I was about...HERE!" The shadow opened her mouth wide! Immediately, the entire space station began to distort! Peanut Butter slammed her massive hammer into the floor's tile, and hung onto the item for dear life! It was as if the cosmos' most violent storm had entered the building! Doors, wires, piping, tile, panels, EVERYTHING began to be sucked into the creature's abyss! Peanut Butter knew she had to act fast...if she waited too long, the black hole would just increase in size and make the entire space station crumble into itself!

The leader took a risk! She quickly materialized a second tenderizer, even larger than herself, before chucking the object toward the Gem! The thing swung violently as it flew near the abyss! Dark Matter closed her mouth quickly, before side-stepping the gigantic tool, and watching it with nothing but intrigue! Her eyes dilated in wonder! Yes...the tenderizer! Look how big of a meal it was! Much easier to catch...closer than the Diamond...

As the massive tool flew into the distance, Dark Matter shook herself out of her own hypnotic state! "Ugh. What a nuance! Now I have to start all over again..." The monster looked highly annoyed. Of COURSE the Diamond would know that throwing an object larger than herself would distract the enemy! It was Dark Matter's only Achilles' heel. Her primal instinct informed her that she should aim her gemstone toward the largest meal closest to her. Her hunger overpowered her common sense. Like an animal, she always preferred larger portions of food, and would take an elephant over a mouse any day.

Peanut Butter knew this all too well- it was the same technique that had allowed her to finally destroy the Gem's form in the first place! The Diamond ran forward quickly while Dark Matter was distracted...

"THOOM!" With a mighty swing of the massive hammer, Peanut Butter threw Dark Matter across the space station. The evil Gem hit the wall-HARD. Debris, shrapnel, and wall bits flew up in a violent cloud of explosion!

...

Unfortunately, the leader had hit the Gem into a cell- Mercury's cell to be precise!

The metallic blob immediately began to rise with the temperature change! Mercury was able to sense an intruder in her midst, and began slithering toward Dark Matter with the intent to attack!

Dark Matter looked behind herself quickly, before opening her mouth and creating another vortex!

Mercury immediately experienced a feeling she had never experienced before-FEAR! In a rare state of panic, the hunter became the hunted!

Mercury quickly attempted to slither away! She transformed parts of herself into hooks and grapples and attempted to cling to the walls!

The room began to collapse! Mercury lost her grip as the cell warped inward!

...

.....

.......Dark Matter closed her mouth, and licked her chops with satisfaction!

Mercury was gone. Lost to the abyss.

The evil monster re-emerged from the cell, and looked down upon the Diamond with the most devious of grins.

"AAAAAGGHHH!" Peanut Butter screamed in a rage! Partially from grief, partially from anger! It didn't matter that Mercury was built to be a violent killing machine...she was STILL a part of the court! Still a part of the family!

"Ahh...how is it that you grieve for such a violent creature? She was ready to attack without a second glance!"

"...AND YOU'RE SO DIFFERENT?! You've slaughtered many, and yet, I did not shatter YOU!"

"Indeed. Somewhat idiotic on your part...you are out one Mercury now...at least she was filling!" Dark Matter licked her chops in the most satisfying and creepy way.

"MONSTER! DEMON! YOU ARE SICK!"

"...and yet, YOU are the one that created me!" Dark Matter quickly jumped from the destroyed cell, and began to walk slowly toward her leader once more! "Without YOUR intrigue, I would not exist! Thus, one could say: YOU are the monster my Diamond!"

Peanut Butter looked at the Gem in shock, before weeping horribly! Dark Matter...Dark Matter...as much of a monster as she was, she was also correct! Mercury was gone because of HER! Her Pearls were gone because SHE had created this...HORRIFIC thing! As the Diamond wailed Dark Matter slowly came closer.

YES- it was a true: Peanut Butter knew Dark Matter's weakness...but Dark Matter ALSO knew her DIAMOND'S vulnerabilities!

As the monster inched closer- the Diamond's guilt distracted her from the immediate danger.

Dark Matter opened her mouth again. It was time to END this. She prepared herself for revenge...

"WAM!" Out of nowhere, the monster was tackled to the ground from the side!

It was a completely NEW Gem! A fusion! There was no way in Hell she was going to let this horrendous creature hurt anyone else!


	36. Karma

It took several seconds for Dark Matter to figure out exactly what had just happened. She looked up, and bore witness to the most...ODD creature she had ever laid her eyes upon.

It was a...Peridot? At least...it KIND of looked like a Peridot.

The Gem was HUGE, and GREEN, and had yellow hair. The creature was also TWICE the size of Peanut Butter...easily.

NO...

What made THIS fusion the MOST shocking, was just how many extra limbs she had! The "Peridot" held several hundred eyes, dozens of arms, and a ridiculous amount of legs. Her body was COMPLETELY covered in gemstones, extra stray limbs, and (for some reason) an unnaturally long nose. One gemstone stood out among the sea of green- a single purple pearl on the giant monster's arm.

The fusion let out a massive roar in aggression! The sound and strength of the noise was so great, that it immediately threw Dark Matter to the other side of the space station! The Gem slammed against the wall-HARD, creating a massive indentation.

Peanut Butter looked at the huge fusion with fear and surprise! The creature was SO massive, that the Peridot was having to bend over...just to fit in the space station!

"WHA-WHA?" Peanut Butter was baffled! She suddenly felt INCREDIBLY small. The leader figured this must be what Faux felt like standing next to HER all the time...

Dark Matter attempted to climb out of the hole. Her body had created a massive crevice in the metallic ship side. The monster no longer looked nearly as confident as she had before...her body was now covered in bruises and scratches. Dark Matter stared at the new fusion with hatred. Fusion...ILLEGAL fusion! How grotesque!

"RRRRRAAARRRR!" The massive Peridot screeched again once she saw that the monster had not retreated back into her gemstone!

Dark Matter began to form another black hole as quickly as possible!

"BOOOOM!" Before The black hole could even form properly, a giant hand came slamming down upon the monster! The fusion was SO huge; her gargantuan arms could reach all the way to the other side of the space station!

...and, just like that...the fight was over. Squished like a bug, Dark Matter had not only poofed away; but her gemstone had been broken into billions of bits.

"ggggrrrroooooaaaannn..." the metal underneath the massive Peridot began to moan and struggle under the fusion's weight! The giant looked down in fear before engulfing in a blinding light!

Immediately, a shower of about 80 normal-sized defective Peridots (and one VERY stunned Grape), exploded from the light and fell to the ground- completely exhausted!

"OH! OH MY STARS!" Peanut Butter approached her Kindergarten team with worry and angst! No WONDER the fusion was SO massive! It had all 80-something Peridots on the inside!

"My...my Diamond..." Analog was weak and tired but incredibly happy. She was still on the floor, but attempted a feeble attempt at a Diamond salute anyway. "I-I'm sorry we had to shatter her...I know how much your court means to you...even Dark Matter..."

The Diamond nodded, tears in her eyes. "I...understand. Rest Analog. You need to get your strength back."

The Peridot closed her eyes, and began to nap.

\----------------

In the aftermath, Grape explained how the giant came to be. She had given the Peridots instructions on fusion so that they could merge together all at once- resulting in the largest Gem to ever be recorded in Homeworld's history!

Grape figured that the Peridots would be the most helpful with this situation. She had heard that fusion was easier with similar Gem types. In addition; the Peridots were plentiful, smart, and had worked well as a team for a long time. They were the perfect candidates to save the court and their Diamond.

Peanut Butter was incredibly grateful! If it hadn't been for Grape's quick thinking and the Peridot's teamwork, there was a good chance the space station would have been completely destroyed!

The entire thing seemed beautifully ironic. The exact defective Peridots that Peanut Butter had saved from slaughter, had repaid the favor by saving their Diamond in return!

\----------------

In respect, a service was held. The shattered remains of Dark matter, as well as some scrap pieces of Mercury's cell were placed in a small ship and sent into the abyss of space. The funeral was slightly awkward- seeing none of the Gems were terribly close to Mercury OR Dark Matter. However, it gave Peanut Butter closure for the two Gems she had lost. It was a respectable service- and well received.

\----------------

Everyone sighed in relief once Steel reformed. She seemed unharmed, and incredibly grateful that her friends were ok. Both Steel and Rock Candy received a metal of bravery from the massive Diamond. Faux did the honors, and placed the medallions over each of their necks. Without the duo risking their lives to warn the court, the situation would have been disastrous.

\----------------

Construction restarted and continued. Things were cleaned, fixed, and brought back to perfection. The court merged into its regular routine. There was a new sense of safety and happiness among the family!

...and then, FINALLY, the day arrived...

\----------------

A mysterious eye ship parked in the docking bay. The hatch door automatically opened by itself...

"H-Hello?! Is anyone here?" A frightened looking Purple Pearl emerged from the ship.

Silence...

The Pearl began to wander the corridors alone- confused as ever. After walking for quite some time, she came across (what seemed to be) the main section of the space station.

Perhaps there was someone here who could tell her what was going on?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ...and that wraps up yet another Steven Universe fanfiction! Yippy-Skippy! A special thanks goes out to all the readers and fans who helped me find the motivation to finish this CRAZY thing! I hope you guys enjoyed it!
> 
> XD

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [PB Court Experiment Files](https://archiveofourown.org/works/14418534) by [The_Lampman](https://archiveofourown.org/users/The_Lampman/pseuds/The_Lampman)




End file.
